STERNA. 



blurred at the margin, where they turn to reddish brown. They 

 are of every possible size and shape, varying from specks to large 

 blotches, smears and clouds. A characteristic of the eggs of this 

 Tern are the hieroglyphic-like lines and scrawls which are found on 

 a majority of the specimens. As in the case of the eggs of other 

 Terns, some are very sparingly marked and a few are quite un- 

 marked. They measure from 2-3 to 2-71 in length, and from 1'6 

 to 1*8 in breadth. 



4. Suakiu Reefs, Red Sea, June to Capt. A. Carpenter [P.]. 



Aug. 



19. Astola Island, Gulf of Oman, June Hume Coll. 



(Capt. Wise). 



121. Astola Island [June] (Capt. Wise). Hume Coll. 



15. Astola Island (E. A. Butler}. Saunders Coll. 



72. Astola Island, 27th May (E. A. B.}. Hume Coll. 



183. Astola Island (E. A. B.}. Hume Coll. 



8. Bramble Cay, Australia (J. Mac- Voy. H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake.' 

 gillivray). 



5. Torres Straits, Dec. (J. Mac- Gould Coll. 



qittivray). 



2. N.W. Australia. Earl of Derby [P.]. 



2. Lizard Island, 12th May. Gould Coll. * 



1. Port Essington. Gould Coll. 



2. Australia. ' Gould Coll. 



4. New Caledonia (J. Macgillivray}. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Sterna frontalis, Gray. 

 (Plate XIV. fig. 6.) 



Sterna melanorhyncha, Gould, Handb. Birds Austr. ii. p. 398 (1865) ; 

 Campbell, Nests # Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 66 (1883). 



Sterna frontalis, Buller, Birds New Zeal. 2nd ed. ii. p. 68 (1888) ; North, 

 Nests # Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 403 (1889) ; Saunders, Cat. Birds 

 B. M. xxv. p. 97 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-l. i.'p. 136 (1899). 



The eggs of the White-fronted Tern in the Collection are of a 

 regular oval form and of an olive-buff colour of different shades, 

 speckled and blotched with dark umber-brown and underlying pale 

 purple. The markings are small and distinct and are equally 

 spread over the whole shell. Five specimens measure respectively : 

 1-8 by 1-27 ; 1'87 by 1-3 ; 2 by 1-44; 1-73 by 1-25 ; 1-76 by 1-26.. 



3. New Zealand. Dr. Lyall [P.]. 



2. Bird and Piper's Islands*, N.E. Voy. H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake/ 

 Australia (J. Macgillivray). 



Sterna aleutica, Baird. 

 (Plate XIV. fig. 9.) 



Sterna aleutica, Baird, Brewer 8f Ridgw. Water Birds N. Am. ii. p. 307 

 (1884) ; Nelson, Report Nat. Hist. Alaska, p. 59 (1887) ; Saunders. 

 Cat. Birds B. M. xxv. p. 98 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-l. i. p. 136 

 (1899). 



* This species is not included in the list of birds given by Macgillivray in 

 the Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. ' Eattlesnake.' 



