1877.] MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE LARID/E. 795 



assumed, and the bill and feet are still reddish black ; in the second 

 the black head only is wanting to complete the nuptial dress ; but 

 the third is in full breeding-plumage, as is also a specimen in spirits. 



The specimen from Betsey Cove is a young bird just fledged, 

 many particles of down still adhering ; general colour sooty grey 

 mottled with brown, and barred with black on the upper parts ; 

 under wing-coverts white. 



This somewhat specialized form has hitherto been only found at 

 Kerguelen Island, and appears to be more closely allied to the New- 

 Zealand species iS. antarctica, Wagler, than to the less restricted 

 form S. vittata, which also includes in its range portions of the 

 same island. The principal specific distinctions of the two species 

 are given in my paper on the Sterninae above referred to. 



3. Sterna vittata, Gm. 



Sterna nittata, Grm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 609 (1788) ; Saunders, 

 P. Z. S. 1876, p. 647. 



[1 specimen. Inaccessible Island, Tristan d'Acunha, October 

 18th, 1873. 



1 specimen. Royal Sound, Kerguelen Island, January 1874.] 



Both these specimens are adults in breeding-plumage ; but the 

 latter is not a very old bird, the outer webs of the long tail-feathers 

 being still slightly tinted with grey, whereas in really mature examples 

 they are long and white. In pointing out its specific characters 

 {I. s. c), I gave its then known range as from Kerguelen Island up to 

 St. Paul's and Amsterdam Islands, about 700 miles to the north, appa- 

 rently its head quarters, and as that of a straggler over the sea between 

 St. Helena and Ascension ; but the fact of its having been obtained 

 close to Tristan d'Acunha is an interesting extension of these limits. 

 When treating of the few examj)les then available from the above- 

 mentioned localities, 1 remarked that the affinities of this species 

 were decidedly with /S. hirundinacea, Less. {S. cassini, Scl.), of the 

 extra- tropical coasts of South America and of the Falkland Islands ; 

 and this view has subsequently been confirmed by the examination of 

 a larger series brought home by the French naturalists from the 

 Transit-of- Venus Expedition, at the same time that the two species 

 are always perfectly distinguishable. But in the case of this in- 

 dividual from Tristan d'Acunha (its nearest known approach to South 

 America), it is interesting to observe that, although the example is 

 undoubtedly referable to S. vittata and not to S. hirundinacea, it 

 comes nearer to the latter species than any other specimen yet 

 examined. However, its relatively smaller size, grey colour, and the 

 characteristic shortness of the foot and claws show distinctly that the 

 bird in question is S. vittata ; and although it has a rather unusually 

 long bill, yet there is an absence of the long curve characteristic of 

 the American bird. It may be remarked that the bill in individuals 

 of the present species seems to be peculiarly brittle and friable, which 

 will account for the worn and blunted appearance often to be observed 

 in the anterior portions of the mandibles. 



There are the remains of an egg, labelled as taken at Heard Island, 



