1920.] tke Birds of the A nfflo- Egyptian Sudan. 821 



Sterna repressa. 



Sterna repressa Hartert, Nov. Zool. xxiii. 1918, p. 288^ 

 nom. nov. pro 



Sterna albifjena lleugliu in Petermun^s Mittlieiluiigeu, 

 1861, p. 29 : Arabia and Nubia (ex Licht.) ; lieichw. 

 V. A. i. p. 65. 



Comiuou ill tlie lied Sea. There is a specimen from 

 Suakiu in llie Museum collection obtained by Penton. 



Sterna (Sternula) albifrons saundersi ? 



Sterna saundersi Hume, Stray Feathers, v. 1877, pp. 324.-6: 

 Karachi ; Butler, Ibis, 1909, p. 403. 



[B. coll.] 3 Port Sudan 24 & 26 May, R.S. 



Mr. Mathews, in his 'Birds of Australia,' vol.ii. pp. 375-381, 

 has made some interesting remarks on these little Terns, 

 and has indicated some names vvliich may be used for 

 various races. We have examined the large amount of 

 material in the British Museum and confess to be very 

 little the wiser. The type of S. saundersi is a bird from 

 Karachi, collected on the 5th o£ May. It has a decidedly 

 small bill, and the outer and half the inner webs of the three 

 outer primaries are black. The three Port Sudan birds listed 

 above agree with it exactly. They are apparently in full 

 breeding-plumage, but, according to Mr. Butler, were not in 

 breeding condition. They differ from English and western 

 European breeding-birds by their shorter bill and by the 

 black colour of the webs of the three outer primaries, this 

 colour being replaced by grey in the western bird and only 

 occurring on the two outer primaries. They appear also 

 somewhat smaller and paler in colour. Whether or not 

 Hume's name will stand for the race, it is not possible to 

 say from present material, as we have no breeding specimens 

 from South Russia, the ty()e-locality of Sterna nietopoleucos 

 S. G. Gmelin (Nov. Comm. Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. xv. 

 1771, p. 475), nor has a restricted type - locality been 

 designated for -6". all/ifrons (Vroeg, Cat. Adumb. 1764, p. 6 : 

 Europe). We suspect, however, tiiat the name will stand, as 

 a specimen from Bokliara obtained m May as well as one 

 from Macedonia appear to be more like the western form. 



