WHISKEBED TEKN 377 



Adult female nuptial. Similar in plumage to the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. Head, neck, breast, 

 wing-coverts, and abdomen, white ; back, scapulars, and 

 tail, grey. 



Immature, male and female. 1 Eesembles the adult 

 winter-plumage, except that the back and wings are mottled 

 with brown. 



BEAK. Livid red. 



FEET. Orange-red ; toes only half- webbed. 



IKIDES. Dark brown. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH ... ... ... 9'3 in. 



WING 8-25 



BEAK ... 1 



TABSO-METATAKSUS 0'75 



EGG 1*35 X 1 in. 



WHISKERED TERN. Hydrochelidon hybrida (Pallas). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, ' Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 77; Dresser, 'Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 588, 589; 

 Lilford, ' Coloured Figures,' vol. v, pi. 3. 



The Whiskered Tern is a very rare and an uncertain 

 visitor which on migration has wandered to the British 

 Isles. Like the preceding species it has been obtained most 

 often in the south-eastern section of England. The earliest 

 known capture is that of a bird taken at Lyme in Dorset, 

 about the end of August, 1836 (Yarrell, Hist. Brit. Birds, 

 3rd Edition). Three years later (September, 1839), one was 

 obtained at the mouth of the Eiver Liffey, Dublin. This 

 bird is preserved in the Dublin Museum, arid is the only Irish 

 specimen at present in existence (Thomson, Ann. Nat. Hist, 

 vol. xx, p. 170). Since then, specimens have been secured 



1 This species may be distinguished from the immature Black Tern 

 by its shorter beak, longer toes, and more deeply incised webs ; the 

 rump and tail are paler, and the wedge of white on the inner web of each 

 primary is better marked ; tail and the feathers covering the carpal 

 joint do not become pure white until the third year (Saunders). 



