THE INDIAN RIVER-TERN. 423 



761. STERNA SEENA. 

 THE INDIAN RIYKIM I-IIN 



Sterna seena, .S///.T.S, P. Z. S. 183:?. p. 171 : //' md /%>, p. <',:><> : /W. x 7 



iii. p. !'.>:'.: S<iu,,il,-rs, P. /,. .V. !*:<;, p. r.-Jo : J ,/,./.>. Yunnan A'.r/^W. p. I 1 .'.!:', 

 1 1 it me ^ Dai- . .V. /'. vi. p. 492; 7/w/i/-, .V. F. viii. p. I 1(1: h-,,,/,-. Hird* Cnjlnn. 

 p. 1003 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 246 ; KMam, Hi*, 1882, p. 201. Sterna aurantia, 

 <Vrm/ ,y 77<m/z<?. 7tf. //id. Zool. i. pi. 69. f. 2; Tfrwje, 5. P. i. p. 281. Seena 

 aurantia, Jerd. B. Iml ii. p. 838 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 163 ; Wardlaw R 

 Ibis, 1877, p. 472 ; Oates, S. F. v. p. 169. 



Description. Summer plumage. Forehead, crown, nape, lores and feathers 

 under the eye black ; upper plumage grey ; tail paler grey, the outer 

 feathers white ; primaries grey on the inner webs, white on the outer ; 

 secondaries and tertiaries much the same colour as the back ; wing-coverts 

 with the outer webs more or less whitish ; sides of the head and the whole 

 lower plumage white, tinged with very pale grey on the breast, abdomen 

 and sides of the body. 



In winter the black portions of the head become white, a patch round 

 the eye remaining dark brown and the ear-coverts being tinged with 

 brown. 



In the. bird of the year the head is brownish and the feathers of the upper 

 plumage are fringed with fulvous. 



Iris brown ; bill deep yellow ; legs and feet red. 



Length 18 inches, tail 8'5, wing 11*2, tarsus *85, bill from gape 2'3, 

 fork of the tail 5' 5. These are the dimensions of a fine breeding female 

 shot at Thayetmyo. The sexes are of the same size. 



The Indian River-Tern is extremely abundant over the whole Province 

 except perhaps in the southern half of Tenasserim, where Mr. Davison did 

 not observe it, and it is a constant resident. 



This species seems to be confined to India, Ceylon and Burmah. It 

 extends up to Scinde 011 the north-west, and it appears to straggle 

 south as far as Malacca, for Lieut. Kelham observed a specimen at that 

 place. 



This graceful Terii is met with in every part of Burmah where there is a 

 river or even a pond. It breeds on the sand -banks of the larger rivers, 

 depositing three eggs in March and April in a depression in the sand. 

 Considerable numbers of these birds generally nest together. The eggs 

 are buff of various shades, thickly blotched and marked with deep brown. 



