ROSEATE TERN. 87 



Adult in winter-plumage. Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage, in having 

 the fore-part, and entire crown of the head white, the feathers being slightly tipped 

 with black. 



Immature. Head, lores, under eyes and nape, speckled through feathers having 

 white bases, black bar and pale brownish -white tips, the latter shorter on the nape ; 

 on the back of the neck the tips almost disappear and the black bar decreases ; the 

 back has similar feathering, but bolder, showing a somewhat scalloped appearance ; 

 the rump and upper tail-coverts pure grey with blackish tips, often absent ; bend of 

 wing pure white, lesser and median coverts dark grey with obsolete tipping, greater 

 coverts paler with more pronounced black and brownish -white tipping ; scapulars 

 and tertials boldly barred and broadly tipped with buffish ; secondaries and primary- 

 coverts grey with white edges ; primaries grey with white tips and inner webs, outer 

 ones much darker grey, outermost black on outer web ; tail-feathers pale grey, 

 tips scalloped with black and buffish, less pronounced on outer ones ; all under- 

 surface including wing lining, pure white. 



Nestling in down. Mottled with grey to almost brown spots on a buffy-white 

 ground-colour above, tinged with fulvous on the head, and pure white below. 



Nest. A depression in the sand or gravel. 



Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground-colour stone, blotched with dark brown and light 

 grey ; axis 47-48 mm., diameter 33-34. (Tasmania.) 



Breeding-season. November and December. 



Distribution and forms. Throughout New Zealand and its sub -antarctic islands 

 and East Australia. Four subspecies may be admitted at present : S. s. striata 

 (Gmelin) from New Zealand ; S. s. bethunei Buller, from the Auckland Islands 

 and probably the Chatham Islands, a larger form, with longer bill and larger feet ; 

 S. s. melanorhyncha Gould, from Tasmania, a smaller and darker race ; and S. s. 

 yorki Mathews from North Queensland, still smaller and paler. 



62. Sterna dougallii. ROSEATE TERN. 



[Sterna dougallii Montagu, Ornith. Diet. Suppl., 1813, pref. June, no pag. : Scotland. Extra- 

 limital.] 



Gould, Vol. VII., pi. 27 (pt. xxxi.), June 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 4, pi. 108, Nov. 

 1st, 1912. 



Sterna gracilis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1845, p. 76, Oct. : Houtman's Abrolhos, 



West Australia ; and again in 1847, p. 222, March 29th, 1848. Same locality. 



Sterna nigrifrons Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. L, p. 62, Feb. 1876 : Warrior Reef, 



North Queensland. 



Sterna striata christopheri Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 209, Jan. 31st, 1912 : Point 



Cloates, mid-West Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally. 



Adult male in breeding -plumage. General colour of the upper -parts pale grey, 

 including the back, wings, and tail ; outer primary black on the greater part of the 

 outer web, the remainders silvery-grey with white on the inner webs and grey 

 adjoining the shafts ; inner primaries and secondaries pale grey with white on the 

 inner webs ; crown of head, nape and hind-neck black ; cheeks, throat, and under- 

 surface of body white, as also the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; bill black, 

 base red ; iris grey ; feet red, claws black. Total length 400 mm. ; culmen 40, 

 wing 212, tail 152, tarsus 21. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Adult male in winter-plumage. Differs from the adult in breeding -plumage 

 by its white fore-head and black and white head and nape ; iris sometimes black ; 

 bill black with yellow base. 



Immature. Similar to the adult in winter-plumage, but having the primaries 



