578 IMi'. D. A. Bannerman oyi the 



of the disappearance cau only be put down to the universal 

 and regular ''egg-robbing'' to which these birds were 

 subjected. Ilerr von Thanner was told by the villagers 

 of Maspalomas that '• baskets-full of eggs were taken away 

 and eaten"; and I can well imagine these short-sighted 

 people taking clutch after clutch until the poor birds were 

 literally driven away to a more hospitable land wherein to 

 roar their young in peace. In any case the district of Mas- 

 palomas has not changed in itself, and is as suited to their 

 r(.'quirements at the present day as it was sixty years ago. 



Sterna cantiaca. Sandwich Tern. 



Sterna rant'iaca Webb, Berthelot, et ]\Ioquin-Tandon, 

 ' llistoire Naturelle des lies Canaries' (Ornithologie 

 Can;irienne, [). 41, 1811). 



a-c. S S ^ . Las Pabnas Harbour. 28th Feb. '11. 



Iris dark chocolate, puj)il dark blue; bill black, tip light 

 yellowish horn-coloured ; feet black. 



Total length in the flesh 15-8 inches. 



The rosy tinge on the feathers of the breast and inner 

 Avebs of the primaries was more pronounced than on any 

 Tern which I had shot previously. 



The Sandwich Tern is by no means a common species on 

 the shores of (Iran Canaria. The Spanish boatmen affirm 

 that it visits the harbour of Las Palmas once a year — in the 

 month of February. Certainly I have not seen it on any 

 previous occasion, and Ilerr von Thanner does not mention 

 the species in his papei-, thcugh he records Sterna hirundo, 

 Avhicli I have not met with myself. Webb and Berthelot 

 gave the habitat of this species as Fuerteventura and 

 Lanzerote. The Sandwich Tern is said to breed on the 

 island of Alegranza. 



jMy three examples are fully adult birds in winter 

 })lmnage, the forehead being wdiite with a few streaks of 

 black and the nape and hinder \mvt of the crown black. 

 The head becomes entirely black about April. These birds 

 have all assumed new primaries, and the white margins to 

 the inner webs are continued to the tip of each feather. 



