336 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON BIRDS FROM DIEGO GARCIA. [June 29, 
nuptial dress at the date of Mr. Bourne’s visit, whereas this example 
is not so. 
5. Buroripes JAvANICA (Horsf.). “ Macaque.” 
[No. 1. ¢. Sept. 22nd, 1885. Eye light golden-yellow. Skin 
at base of beak yellow. 
No. 10. 2. East islet, 28th October, 1885. 
These birds are common, and may be seen any evening standing 
by the rock-pools, or on the beach at low water, on the look-out for 
fish. They are rather shy, and when alarmed fly off with a shrill 
cry like kac-kae kac-kac kac.] 
6. Trinca suBpARQquata (Guldenst.). 
[No. 14. ¢. Eye black. 
Tolerably common, frequenting spots where slimy mud is left bare 
at low water. | 
7. NumeNtus pH2£opus (Linn.). ‘ Corbijeu.”’ 
[No. 13. g. Eye black. 
Common, but very shy and difficult to approach. I only got one 
shot during my stay.] 
8. STREPSILAS INTERPRES (Linn.). ‘‘ Alouette-de-Mer.” 
[No. 6. 9. October 22nd, 1885. Eye dark brown. 
Common on soft marshy ground. They usually fly in flocks of 
twenty to thirty. ] 
9. DRoMAS ARDEOLA. 
[No. 12. g. Eye black. 
Common along the outer shores and in marshy places. Wary 
and difficult to approach. | 
The fact that the Crab-Plover breeds in burrows and lays a single 
white egg, similar to that of a Shearwater, has been known for some 
years. (See P. Z.S. 1881, p. 259.) 
10. STERNA BERNSTEINI, Schlegel. ‘* Goeland.”’ 
[No. 9. g. October 9th, 1885. Eye black. Not common. } 
An immature specimen of this very rare Tern, the adult breeding- 
dress of which is still unknown. It is nearly of the size of Sterna 
bergit, from which it may be distinguished by the very light colour 
of the mantle and by the white tail-coverts. We have yet to learn 
whether the adult in nuptial dress has a white frontal band at the 
base of the bill, as in S. bergti, or whether the black of the forehead 
comes down to the bill as in most other Terns. The present species is 
known from Halmaheira on the one side, and the Rodriguez waters 
on the other, and that is about all that can be said. The type from 
the first-named locality is in the Leyden Museum; there are two 
examples from Round Island and Ile de la Baleine, near Mauritius, 
in the collection of Messrs. A. and E, Newton ; two more from the 
island of Rodriguez are in the British Museunt of Natural History ; 
the present is the sixth example I have examined. 
