642 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN.*. [June 20, 



and also by Temminck, under date of the same year ; the former, 

 however, give a coloured plate, and their claim to the earliest dis- 

 crimination of its distinctness seems to be generally acknowledged. 

 It is to be regretted that Mr. G. R. Gray and others should subse- 

 quently have identified it with Sterna nigra of Linnseus, for which 

 there does not appear to have been any reasonable ground ; for, as I 

 trust to show when treating of the Black Tern, Linnseus's descrip- 

 tion can only apply to that species. 



By its longer and more slender toes and claws, and deeply incised 

 webs, this species may be distinguished from H. nigra at all ages ; 

 whilst its generally smaller dimensions serve to separate the young 

 from that of H. hybrida. In the immature plumage also the upper 

 tail-coverts are whiter than in 77. nigra, in which the grey of the back 

 continues over the rump and throughout the tail ; but the above white 

 band is somewhat dependent upon the make of the skin, and is not 

 an unfailing guide with such specimens as the one Mr. J. H. Gurney 

 had before him (which is now in my collection) when he identified it as 

 Sterna jissipes. On raising the feathers on the rump, however, it 

 will be seen that there is much more white at the base of those of 

 H. leucoptera than in those of II. nigra ; and in properly preserved 

 skins the white band on the rump is clearly denned even in very 

 young birds. The adults in summer can hardly be mistaken even 

 on the wing, the black under wing-coverts being very conspicuous, 

 (whereas in H. nigra they are pale grey) ; in winter and immature 

 plumage the under wing-coverts are white. 



A straggler to northern Europe, this Tern becomes abundant in 

 the south and south-east, ranges throughout Siberia and China, and 

 reaches to the Transvaal and Damaraland and to Abyssinia, whence I 

 have several specimens, all in immature plumage ; there is, however, 

 little doubt that it breeds there. It has also been obtained in 

 Australia and New Zealand, and is recorded by Dr. E. Coues as 

 having been captured in Wisconsin, U. S., on 5th July 18/3, in full 

 breeding-plumage. 



Hydrochelidon nigra (Linn.). 



Sterna nigra, Linn. S. N. i. p. 227 (176(5), F. S. p. 159 ; Meyer 

 & Wolf, Tasch. Deutsch. Vog. ii. p. 461 (1810); Temm. M. d'Orn. 

 p. 484 (1815). 



Sterna ncevia, Linn. S.N. i. p. 228 (1760), ex Brisson (jr.). 



Sterna fissipes, Linn. S. N. i. p. 228 (1766) ; Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. 

 Sterna, p. 29 (1863). 



Larus merv.linus, Scop. Ann. i. Hist. Nat. p. 81 (1769). 



Sterna surinamensis, Gm. S. N. i. p. 604 (1788). 



Sterna plumbea, Wilson, Am. Orn. vii. p. 83, pi. 60 (1813). 



Hydrochelidon nigra, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 563. 



Viralva nigra, Steph. in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. p. 167 (1824). 



Anous plumbea, Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. i. p. 1 12 

 (1826); (ex Wilson). 



By drcchelidon fissipes, G. R. Gray, Gen. Birds, iii. p. 660(1849) ; 

 Bias. J. f. Orn. 1866, p. 82 ; Degl. & G. Orn. Eur. ii. p. 4 65 (1867) 



