284 



LO\0-WINGED SWIMMEKS — LONGIPENNES. 



ill 



with black spots. The nests eonsisted of sliglit liollows in the sand, with a few sticks 

 gathered round. 



Mr. C. A. Wright, in liis List of the Birds of Malta (" Ibis," 1870), mentions having,' 

 observed one of this spec^ies, on the 21st of May, at Fort Mandel Island, which \v;i.s 

 quite fearless, and repeatedly approached close to the soldiers on guard, who tlinw 

 pieces of bread to it, wliich were immediately pounced upon and swallowed. This 

 bird was afterward shot, and ascertained to be a female, with eggs in the ovary in an 

 advanced stage of development. 



According to Yarrcll, the Ciispian Tern is an occasional visitant of the British 

 coast. Seven instances of its occurrence there are named, one of which was in ( )(:t()- 

 ber, 1825, one in June, 1849, and one in August, 1851. It is also known to have 

 been taken at different times in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, France, Italy, Cor- 

 sica, and Sicily. It has also been obtained at Senegal, at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and near Calcutta. 



Eggs in Yarrell's collection — from the vicinity of Hamburg — are described by 

 him as being 2.50 inches in length, and 1.65 in breadth ; of a yellowish stone ground- 

 color, spotted with ash-gray and dark red-brown. The ground-color of the egg of 

 this species in my cabinet is a light grayish drab. The markings are scattered 

 and rather small, of a subdued lavender and raw-umber, of different shades, in some 

 cases being more nearly black. Two eggs — procured at Great Slave Lake by ilr. 

 L. Clarke — measure, one, 2.70 by 1.70 inches; the other, 2.55 by 1.80. An egg 

 marked as having been taken in Turkey has a ground of a light but distinct drab, 

 with very nearly black scattered and rounded spots. Tliis egg measures 2.44 by 1.80 

 inches. Other eggs from Scandinavia measure as follows : 2.48 by 1.73 ; 2.65 by 1.72 ; 

 2.59 by 1.76; 2.60 by 1.80. 



Sterna masdma. 



THE BOTAL TERN. 



La Grande HirondeUc de Mer, de Cnycnne, Buff. Oia. VIII. 346. 



Hirondclle de Mcr, dc Cnycnne, Buff. PI. Kill. 988. 



Sterna maxima, Bodd. Tnbl. P. E. 58 (ex PI. Eiil. 988). — ScL. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, 567 (oriti- 



civl). — Saundeiis, p. Z. S. 1878, 655 (do.). — CouES, 2d Check List, 1882, no. 794. 

 Sterna caycnnensis, G.mel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 604. 

 Sterna cayana, Lath. Ind. Orn. IL 1790, 804, no. 2. — Nutt. Man. IL 1834, 268. — Aud. Orn. 



Biog. IIL 1835, 505 ; V. 1839, 639, pi. 273 ; Synop. 1839, 316 ; B. Am. VII. 1844, 76, ]A. 429. 

 Sterna galericulatn, Licht. Vcrz. Doubl. 1823, 81 (tyiw in Berlin Mus. ; detennined by H. S.). 

 Sterna crythrorhynchus, Wied, Beitr. IV. 1833, 857. 

 Sterna cristata. Swains. B. W. Afr. II. 1837, 247, pi. 30 (typo in Cambridge Mus. ; examined by 



H. S.). 

 Sterna regia, Gamd. Pr. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1848, 228. — CouE.s, Key, 1872, 319; Check List, 



1873, no. 562. — LAwn. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 859. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 



683. — RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 681. 

 Thnlasscus regius, Gamb. Joum. Philad. Acad. I. 2d set. 1849, 228. — Coues, Pr. Philad. Acad. 



1862, 539 (critical). 

 Sterna ( Thalasscus) regia, CouES, B. N. \V. 1874, 669. 

 " Sterna Bergii," Irby, Orn. Str. Gibr. 1875, 209 (specimen examined by H. S.). ^ ot S. Bergii, 



LicHT. 1823. 



Hab. Tropical and warm-temperate parts of America, north to Long Island, Massachusetts, 

 Great Lakes, Utah (?), Nevada (?), and coast of California ; south to Brazil and Peru. West coast 

 of Africa, north to Tangiers (Dalgleish, "Auk," January, 1884, p. 97). 



Sp. Char. Nearly as large as S. caspia. Bill deep orange-red or orange. Tail quite deeply 

 forked. Adult, in spring : Entire pileum, including occipital crest and upper half of the lores, 



