STERNINJS. 431 



SAUNDER'S LITTLE TERN. 



Length, 9'12 ; expanse, 19'25 ; wing, 6 '43 ; tail, 3 ; tarsus, 0'6 ; 

 bill from gape, 1*5. 



Bill yellow, tipped dusky ; irides blackish brown ; legs and feet 

 dusky yellowish -olive. 



A triangular frontal patch, the angles reaching to within 0'12 of 

 the eyes, white ; a very broad stripe through the lores to the eye 

 black ; a narrow white line intervenes between this stripe and the 

 upper mandible ; the whole crown, occiput, short occipital crest 

 and sides of occiput as low as the lower margin of the eye, velvet- 

 black, the central two -thirds of the lower eyelid white, and no 

 black below this ; all the rest of the sides of head and neck, chin, 

 throat, entire under parts, wing-lining and exterior tail-feathers, 

 pure white ; the first three primaries black with black shafts and 

 broad white margins on their inner webs ; their greater coverts 

 dusky black ; the whole of the rest of the upper surface, including 

 wings and tail, and excepting parts and feathers already described, 

 a most delicate satin-grey, contrasting in the strongest manner 

 with the early black primaries. 



Saunder's Little Tern is very abundant at Kurrachee and along 

 the adjacent coast. It is a permanent resident, breeding during 

 April and May. The eggs, two in number, are deposited in a small 

 depression in the sand. They are rather longish ovals pointed 

 at one end ; the ground color is drab or stone, and the markings 

 consist of spots, streaks, and blotches of a dark or reddish-brown 

 color. 



They measure 1'3 inches in length by 0'9 in breadth. 



Sterna bergii, Licht. 



989. T. cristatus, Steph. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 

 842 ; Butler, Deccan, Stray Feathers, Vol. IX, p. 441 ; 

 Murray's Vertebrate Zoology of Sind, p. 322. 



THE LARGE SEA TERN. 



Length, 17 to 18 ; wing, 13 to 14 ; tail, 7 ; tarsus, T25 ; bill 

 at front, 2*5. 



Bill pale } T ellow ; irides dark brown ; legs black. 



Head, with the longish occipital crest, deep glossy-black ; 

 forehead, lores, ear-coverts, nape, and all the lower parts silky- 

 white ; back, wings and tail, rather darkish silvery-grey ; edge 

 of the wing and tips of the secondaries white ; quills dark at 

 the base and tip, hoary or silvery toward the terminal portion, 

 with the inner web and shafts white internally, diminishing in 

 quantity from the first. 



The Large Sea Tern is very common at Kurrachee and all 

 along the sea coast. It breeds during April and May, on 

 islands in the Persian Gulf, in company with many other species 

 of Terns. Boat loads of eggs are annually brought into 

 Kurrachee. The eggs are broad ovals, much pointed at one end ; 



