318 LARID.*:. 



although none were observed by Hume or myself on the Makran 

 coast in December and February, Butler found this Tern common 

 there and in Karachi Harbour in the latter part of the spring and 

 in summer. Probably it migrates to the southward in winter, for 

 Vidal observes that flocks reach the neighbourhood of Eatnagiri 

 about September and February in an exhausted condition. S. albi- 

 r/ena has been found to breed on low islands in the Eed Sea and 

 Persian Gulf. 



1506. Sterna fluviatilis. *The Common Tern. 



Sterna fluviatilis, Neum. Isis, 1819, p. 1848; Hume fy Henders. 



Lah. to York. p. 303 ; Hume, S. F. iv, p. 472 ; id. Cat. no. 986 ; 



Letjf/e, Birds Ceyl. p. 1015 ; Davison, S. F. x, p. 418 ; Saunders, 



Cat. B. M. xxv, p. 54. 

 Sterna hirundo, L. Syst. Nat. i, p. 227, pt. ; Blyth, Cat. p. 292 ; 



Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 839; v. Pelzeln, Ibis, 1868, p. 321; Hume. 



S.F.i, p. 282; C. H. T. Marshall, Ibis, 1884, p. 425. 

 Sterna tibetana, Saunders, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 649 ; Stanford, S. F. v, 



p. 485. 



The European Tern, Jerdon. 



Coloration. Forehead and upper lores, crown, nape and sides of 

 the head as far down as the lower edge of the orbit, black ; back 

 and wings ashy grey, 1st primary with the outer web black and a 

 strip of the inner web near the shaft blackish, remainder of inner 

 web white ; 2nd primary less black, and with less white on the 

 inner web, secondaries edged with white ; rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, and inner webs of tail-feathers white, outer webs of the 

 same grey, darkest on the long outermost pair ; lower lores, cheeks, 

 chin, throat, wing-lining, and under tail-coverts white; breast 

 and abdomen very pale grey, with a vinous tinge. 



In winter the forehead is white, or mottled with white, the 

 crown streaked with black, and the lower parts whitish. Young 

 birds have a broad white forehead, the hind head sooty black, a 

 white collar, a dark band along the smaller wing-coverts, and white 

 underparts. Very young birds have the usual broad buff outer 

 and brown inner margins to the feathers of the upper parts. 



Bill, legs, and feet in the breeding-season coral-red, much duller 

 in winter, and blackish in young birds. The tip of both mandibles 

 is always blackish. 



Length 14; tail 5 to 7'5, depth of fork 3 to 5; wing lO'o ; 

 tarsus -8 ; bill from gape 2. 



Distribution. Temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and North 

 America, ranging into Ladak and the higher Himalayan valleys, 

 and occasionally in winter visiting parts of India and Ceylon. 

 Most of the birds obtained on the coasts of Southern India, 

 Ceylon, and the Malay Peninsula are immature. 



Habits, fyc. The common Tern of Europe is found equally on 

 rivers,- ' lakes, and the sea-coast ; it is essentially a fish-eating 

 species, and breeds in May and June, on sandy or pebbly tracts 



