1^62. j FROM PERU AND CHILI. 521 



grey, much lighter than in the adult, and the moustache-Ulie plumes 

 beneath the eye merely show traces of tlie white colour which is 

 subsequently assumed. The breeding-haunts of this bird are still 

 unknown ; they are surmised to be on the island of San Lorenzo, in 

 Callao Bay, and in similar situations along the coast, but nothing 

 has yet beeu positively ascertained. 



Sterna maxima, Bodd. 



Sterna maxima, Bodd. Tab. PI. Enl. p. 58, no. 988 (1783) ; Scl. 

 & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 5G7 ; Saund. op. cit. 1?S76, p. G55. 



[No. 78 ( cJ ), no. 79 ( ? ), Payta, January 1882. Eyes black.] 



Nearly adult, but the secondaries still show some of the dark 

 markings indicative of immaturity, and only the crown and nape 

 are as yet streaked with black ; the bill is orange-yellow. In the 

 adult, in breeding-plumage, the entire crown from the base of the 

 bill is deep glossy black — a cliaracteristic which distinguishes it 

 from Sterna hergii of the African and Indian seas, in which a 

 broad fillet of white intervenes between the black forehead and the 

 base of the bill. These two species were long confounded ; and as 

 S. maxima, which is properly an American species, reaches across 

 to the west coast of Africa, and even as far north as the Straits of 

 Gibraltar, it may not be superfluous to point out this distinction. 

 S. maxima has also a lighter mantle than /S. bergii ; but impinging 

 upon the range of the latter comes a large light-mantled Tern, 

 S. bernsteini, found between the island of Rodriguez and the island 

 of Ilalmahera. This last very rare species, in its winter plumage, 

 much resembles /S'. maxima ; the breeding-plumage is as yet un- 

 known, so that it is at present impossible to say if the black crown 

 extends to the base of the bill or is terminated by a white baud. 



Sterna elegans, Gamb. 



Sterna elegans, Gamb. Pr. Phil. Ac. iv. p. 129 (1848); Saund. 

 P. Z. S. 1876, p. (353. 



[No. 32, Callao Bay, Sept. 1881 ; uos. 33 & 34, Coquimbo Bay, 

 Nov. 1881. Eyes dark brown.] 



Adult, but not old, birds, in winter plumage, in which only the 

 nape and crown are black. The Callao example is shghtly smaller 

 than the two others ; but this is the only difference. 



It was with diffidence that I separated its Atlantic representative 

 from this species, under the name of ^'. earygnatha (P. Z. S. 1876, 

 p. 654) ; but the subsequent examination of a more extensive series 

 has hitherto confirmed the views then entertained as regards their 

 specific distinctness, mainly based upon the relative position of the 

 mandibular angle. 



The breeduig-resorts of S. elegans are as yet unrecorded, nor 

 have I hitherto succeeded in examining an adult in nuptial dress. 

 It is known to frequent the coast as far north as California, and will 

 probably be found breeding along the Pacific shores of Mexico ; 

 nevertheless Mr. Forrer, who found S. maxima abundant in Lower 

 California, did not obtain S. elegans. 



35* 



