240 STERNID.E. 



eastern Mediterranean ; and, as far as he was informed, not 

 found westward of Sicily.* 



Shot at the end of December, 1846, in the vicinity of a 

 fresh-water pond between Kilbarrack and Sutton, by Mr. J. 

 Lynch, of Dublin, we have been favoured by that gentleman 

 with the following particulars respecting it. Observed flying 

 in company with several of the black-headed gulls, when one 

 of the latter was shot, it made a descent in the air after it, when 

 it was also shot with the contents of the second barrel. Not 

 having any idea of its rarity, no attention was paid to its 

 habits, except to remark its similar appearance to the gulls 

 with which it was associated, and by the merest chance it 

 was not thrown away, but thrust, with the other birds, into 

 the pocket of a shooting-coat. 



When partially skinned, we extracted the tongue and part 

 of the skull. The specimen, when preserved, was left at Dr. 

 Ball's residence for sale by the taxidermist ; but that gentle- 

 man being on a visit with Mr. Thompson, of Belfast, it was 

 purchased for our own collection. 



Rare in collections, a specimen in similar plumage is pre- 

 served in the British Museum, and labelled from the Red Sea ; 

 but, on attentive examination of the Sternidae in the admi- 

 rable zoological collection at the Jardin des Plants, no specimen 

 was preserved, nor, on inquiry, was it known to the Curator. 

 Not admitted to the European Fauna by the latest continental 

 authors, we know nothing of its habits in the countries fre- 

 quented by it, and of whom Charles Bonaparte has alone 

 given its habitat : u On dit que Fhirondelle de mer veloce 

 (Sterna velox, Ruppell) espece commun aux Indes et dans 

 une grande partie de 1'Afrique frequente egalment les parties 

 chaudes de 1'Europe meridionale."f 



Habitat Northern Africa. 



SPECIES 230 THE SANDWICH TERN. 



Sterna Cantiaca. Jardine. 

 Hirondelle de mer caugek. Temm. 



Big Skirr. 



THE SANDWICH TERN is another fine species, although ad- 

 mitting no comparison with the great size of the preceding. 

 More unusual in its occurrence than of actual rarity, it has 

 never been met with beyond the eastern limits of the island. 



* Thompson. t Schlegel, Revue Critique des Oiseaux d' Europe. 



