tif 



LAIUD.E — THE GULLS AND TEllNS — lIVmiUCllKLlDUM. 



323 



Hydrochelidon leucoptera. 



THE WHITE-WINGED BLACK TEB5. 



S/triia leucoptera, Meisnku & Sciii.nz, Viig. Schwciz, 1815, 204. 



HijdrucluUdoiL Irucopln-d, Hon:, Isis, 1822, 563. — Savsdkhs, 1'. /. S. 1876, 641. — RiixiW. Ndin. 



N. Am. H. 1881, 110. 694. — t'oUES, 2d Check List, 1882, no. 807. 

 llijdruchnlidun niijra, GllAY, Oeii. B. III. 1849, 660 (not Skma nujnt, Ll.N.s.). — CoUEs, B. N. \V. 



1874, 709. 

 Jlydroclielidon sublcucoptcra, BitEiiM, Vogclfang, 1855, 350. 



IIaii. Paliuarctic Uej,'ioii, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Casual or accidental in Eastern 

 Xmtli America (Wisconsin ; Kumlien). 



.Si'. Chau. Adult, in summer: Head, neck, and lower parts, except anal refjion and crissnni, 

 uniforni sooty black, deeper black on the head and neck ; back, scai>ulars, tertials, and ujiper part 

 (if runii) jdunibeous ; wings silvery },'ray, becoming gradually white on the anterior lesser coverts. 

 Lower part of rump, and upper tail-coverts, white, sometimes tinged with bluish gray ; tail gray- 

 isli white or i)ale grayish, the feathers tinged with deeper grayish toward ends. Anal n'gion and 

 lower tail-coverts pure white. Lining of the wing, and axillars, dark pUnnbeous. Lill diuk 

 brownish ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet pale inownish, in the dried skin. 



Wing, 7.(50-8.20 inches (average, 7.!)!)) ; tail, 2.8()-:j.25 (S.OO) ; culnien, .00-.!)") (.04) ; di'iith of 

 liill through ba.se, .20 ; tarsus, .70-.7r) (.71) ; middle toe, .(H)-.nr> (.(il). [Four specimens.] 



The single American specimen examined (the only one known — No. ()G2i;J, 9 '"l-, Lake Kos- 

 koiiong. Wis. ; Th. Kumi.ien), has the wing and tail nnich shorter than either of the three 

 KMro|iean sixjcimen.s, measuring, respectively, only 7.(iO and 2.80 inches again.st 8.tX) and 3.00 — 

 the minimum of the same measurements in the Eurojiean examples. 



The ocourrcnce of a single specimen of this well-known European species within 

 the limits of the United States is an interesting incident of comparatively reiHMit 

 occurrence. It was taken by Ludwig Kumlien, tlie son of the well-known ornitholo- 

 gist, I'rofessor Thure Kumlien, on lUack-hawk Ishind, Koskonong Lake, July 5, LST.'J. 

 It was a female, ai)parently breeding, and flying in company with a flock of the common 

 Ulack Tern. The eggs in its ovaries were as large as Xo. (5 shot. 



In Europe this species is a common companion of //. nifjr<(, and rather a southern 

 species than a northern one. It is of only occasional occurrence in (Jreat IWitain, 

 and is merely accidental in Sweden, in both of which countries the IJlack Tern is 

 comparatively common. Mr. Wheelwright states that only a single example of this 

 s[)ecies has been seen in South Sweden. A solitary specimen was shot on the Shannon 

 Kiver in 1841 ; this was supposed to be a form of the lUack Tern, and was for 

 a while so labelled in the museum of the Dublin Natural History Society. Another 

 specimen was shot near Yarmouth, England, May 17, 1853. According to Temminck, 

 tills Tern inhabits the bays ami inlets of the shores of the Mediterranean, and is very 

 common about Gibraltar. It visits also the lakes, rivers, and marsh(>s of the countries 

 in the vicinity of the Alps. It is said to be very common .about the lakes of Lucamo, 

 Lugano, Couio, Iseo, and Garda, and is occasionally seen on the Lake of (Jeneva. 

 It is included by Dr. Schinz among the birds of Switzerland, and has also been 

 jirocured in France and Belgium. lirehm includes it in his work on the Hirds of 

 Gfi'inany, and Nilsson in his Fauna of Scandinavia, as a very rare straggler ; and 

 Savi and Malherbe give it as a bird of Italy. Mr. Drummond met with it in Northern 

 Africa, near Tunis. It is said to be common in spring in Dalmatia. Its habits do 

 not appear to differ essentially from those of its near relative. If. nif/nt. 



Its occurrence in the Transvaal, in Africa, renders it probable that this sjiecies 

 may be more or less generally distributed over the whole of that continent. Mr. T. 



