92 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



behind, and although short, is longer than the middle toe ; the webs between the 

 anterior toes noticeably incised and the hind-toe short. 



Coloration grey above with black top of head, full crest, and white below. 



66. Pelecanopus bergii. CRESTED TERN. 



[Sterna bergii Lichtenstein, Verzeichn. doubl. Zool. Mus. Berlin, p. 80, (pref. Sept.) 1823 : 

 Cape of Good Hope. Extra-limits!.] 



Gould, Vol. VII., pis. 23, 24 (pt. xxxiv.), Dec. 1st, 1848. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 3, pi. 106, 

 Sept. 20th, 1912. 



Sterna pelecanoides King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 422, "1827 " = April 



26th, 1826: Torres Strait. 



Sterna poliocerca Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. n., pi. (37), April 1st, 1837 : Tasmania. 



Sterna novcehollandicB Pucheran, Revue Zool., Oct. 1850, p. 545, Nov. ex Cuvier MS. : 



Nouvelle Hollande, coll. by Peron and Lesueur = Tasmania. 



Not of Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. i., p. 161, 1826. 



Pelecanopus nigripennis Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus Acad. Sci. Paris, Vol. XUL, p. 772, 



May 1856 : New name for " S. novcehoUandice Cuv." 



Thalasseus bergii gwendolence Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 208, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Perth, South-west Australia. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. Back, scapulars, wings, and tail ash-grey ; primary -quills silvery- 

 grey on the outer webs, somewhat dark on the outer web near the base, inner webs 

 grey next the shaft, inner portion white ; inner primaries silvery-grey with white on 

 the inner webs ; secondaries white with grey on the outer webs, the grey increasing 

 in extent on the innermost feathers ; middle tail-feathers like the back, the outer 

 ones grey with white inner webs, the outermost pair almost entirely white ; crown 

 of head and long nape feathers black ; fore-head, lores, neck all round, and under- 

 surface of body white, like the axillaries and under wing-coverts ; a small patch 

 of grey feathers on the sides of the breast ; bill yellow, base green ; iris brown, feet 

 black. Total length 480 mm. ; culmen 55, wing 345, tail 176, tarsus 27. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male ; culmen 52, wing 326, tail 164. 



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

 by the absence of the black on the crown of the head ; the feathers on the fore-part 

 of the head, face, and sides of nape with white margins, becoming black on the 

 occiput. 



Immature female. Differs from the adult female in having some of the feathers 

 of the upper back with dark shaft-streaks, the lesser wing-coverts rusty-brown, 

 bastard-wing and primary-coverts brown ; primary-quills brown, inner webs white ; 

 secondaries white with brown on the outer webs, middle tail-feathers white tipped 

 with grey, outer feathers brown with white on the inner webs, the outermost pair 

 white tipped with brown ; the feathers on the fore-part of the head black margined 

 with white, while those on the nape are brown. 



Immature (before moulting into full breeding -plumage). Head more or less dark 

 brown, feathers with white bases and whitish tips ; fore-head and lores whitish with 

 a few brown speckles ; a spot just in front of the eye dark ; a few brown tips to the 

 feathers on the sides of the neck ; feathers of the bend of the wing whitish, greater 

 wing-coverts dark brownish-grey ; median wing-coverts ashy -grey ; lesser wing- 

 coverts darker ashy-grey. 



Immature (in change from juvenile plumage). A few brown -tipped feathers 

 remain on the upper back ; the majority of the feathers slaty ; the scapulars and 

 median coverts, however, show the juvenile plumage to still predominate. 



Juvenile (young bird just ready to fly). The feathers of the head have white 

 bases and tips, the middle being dark brown, the head having thus an even mottled 

 appearance ; the sides and back of the neck are white, some of the feathers having 



