806 HYDROCHELIDON 



Guifette noire, French ; Gaivina, Ferreirinho, Portug. ; 

 Fumarell, Span. ; Mignattino, Ital. ; Schwarze-Seeschwalbe, 

 German ; Zwarte-Zeezwaluw, Dutch ; Sort-Terne, Dan. and 

 Norweg. ; Svart-Tarna, Swed. ; Tschernaya-martyschka, Russ. 



# ad-. (Spain). Crown, nape, and hind neck glossy black ; upper 

 parts and tail plumbeous blue-grey; quills darker plumbeous grey; 

 sides of head, throat, and under parts plumbeous black ; under wing- and 

 tail-coverts white, the former tinged with grey ; bill purplish black ; legs 

 blackish brown with a purplish tinge; iris dark brown. Culmen 1*3, 

 wing 8-0, tail 3'25, only moderately forked, tarsus 0'65 inch. Sexes alike. 

 The young bird has the forehead and hind neck white, the upper parts 

 brownish ashy marked with light brown, the fore back blackish and the 

 under parts white, marked with blackish on the sides of the breast, and 

 the adult in winter is similar, but the upper parts are clearer grey and 

 the markings on the sides of the breast are absent. 



Hob. Europe generally, north to about 60 3 N. lat., now only 

 a rare visitant to Britain ; Africa in winter to Abyssinia on 

 the east, and Loango on the west side ; Asia Minor and Asia 

 east to Western Turkestan. In the New World it is replaced 

 by a nearly allied species, H. surinamensis (Gmel.). 



As a rule the Black Tern is extremely tame and fearless. On 

 the wing it is extremely graceful and may often be seen hover- 

 ing over the water for a moment and then pouncing down like 

 a stone on its prey. It feeds chiefly on aquatic insects of 

 various kinds, worms, grubs, &c. It breeds in swamps, making 

 a tolerably well constructed nest of grass and marsh plants, and 

 late in May deposits 3 eggs, which are ochreous clay in ground- 

 colour, sometimes with an olivaceous tinge, marked with 

 purplish grey shell spots, and blackish surface spots and blotches, 

 and measure about T49 by TO. 



1111. WHITE-WINGED BLACK TERN. 

 HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOFTERA. 



Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Schinz.), in Meisn. and Schinz. Vog. der 

 Schweiz. p. 264 (1815) ; (Naum.), x. p. 215, Taf. 257 ; (Gould), B. 

 of E. v. pi. 423 ; id. B. of Gt. Brit. v. pi. 76 ; Dresser, viii. p. 321, 

 pis. 590, 591 ; David and Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 524 ; Saunders, Cat, 

 B. Br. Mus. xxv. p. 6 ; id. Manual, p. 635 ; Blanf. F. Brit. Ind. 

 Birds, iv. p. 308 ; Kidgway, p. 47 ; Lilford, vi. p. 3, pi. 2 ; H. 

 fasipes, Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 1015. 



Hirondelle de mer leucopt&re, French ; Fumarell, Span. ; 

 Mignattino ali-branchi, Ital. ; Weissfliiglige Seeschwalhe, 

 German. 



A 



