THE CASPIAN TERN. 427 



765. STERNA CASPIA. 

 THE CASPIAN TERN. 



Sterna caspia, Pall. X<>r. Cnnn. Pctrop. xiv. p. 582 ; Hume, >$'. F. i. p. 280; Oates, 

 S. F. Hi. p. 347; Sannders, P. Z. S. 187(5, p. OoC, ; Zh-esser, Bird* Enr.\'\\\. 

 p. 289, pi. ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 115; Parh-r, *. /'. ix. p. 487 ; Leyrje, Birds 

 Ceylon, p. 1008 ; Ofe, S'. ^'. x. p. 24G. Sylochelidon caspius, 7m?. B. Ind. 

 ii. p. 835 ; David <>i Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 522. 



Description. Summer plumage. Forehead, crown, ear-coverts, nape and 

 the upper part of the hind neck black ; upper plumage, wings and tail 

 grey ; the primaries blackish at the tip ; sides of the neck and the whole 

 lower plumage white. 



In winter the portions of the head which are black in summer are white 

 streaked with black, except the cheeks, ear-coverts and feathers round the 

 eye, which remain more or less dusky. 



Bill orange, bluish brown near the tip, and the tip yellow ; iris dark 

 brown ; legs and feet black ; claws black above, white below. 



Length 20 inches, tail 5*5, wing 15*7, tarsus 1*75, bill from gape 3*8; 

 tail but slightly forked. 



I shot two Caspian Terns in June at the mouth of the Sittang river, 

 and it has not yet been recorded from any other part of the Province. 



It has an immense range, being found on the coasts of Europe, North 

 America and Africa, and extending through Asia down to Australia 

 and New Zealand. 



This large Tern is usually met with singly or in pairs ; and it may be 

 looked for in Burmah at all times of the year, for I procured it in June, 

 and Mr. Parker found it breeding in Ceylon in the same month. The 

 small colony this gentleman discovered at Adam's Bridge had deposited 

 their eggs on a sand-bank, each nest, or rather hollow in the sand, contain- 

 ing cither one or two eggs. This Tern is found not only on the coast but 

 also far inland on the larger rivers and tanks. 



