662 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN.E. [Julie 20, 



Sterna superciliaris, Cab. J. f. Oru. v. 232 ; Coues, Key, p. 332 

 (1872). 



Sterna superciliaris, var. antillurum, Coues, B. N.W. Am. p. 692 

 (1874). 



Similar to the above, and has also dark shafts to primaries ; but 

 the rump and tail-coverts are pearl-grey like the mantle, and there is 

 but little black at tip of bill. 



Ranges throughout temperate America, on both coasts, and down 

 to the Antilles, Trinidad, lat. 10° N. 



Sterna superciliaris, Vieill. 



Sterna superciliaris, Vieillot, N. D. xxxii. p. 126 (1819), based 

 on the Hati ceja blanca of Azara ; Scl. & Salv. P. Z.S. 18/1, 

 p. 571 ; Coues, B. N.W. Am. p. 692 (1874), in part. 



Back, rump, and tail slightly darker than in the above ; bill stouter 

 and entirely yellow ; the legs and feet also are of an olivaceous colour 

 in my Amazon specimens, very different from the bright yellow of 

 those parts in the two foregoing*. 



Is found on all the large South-American rivers from the Parana 

 upwards, is plentiful on the Amazons and the Ucayali, and I found 

 it abundant on the river Huallaga still further west. 



Sterna sinensis, Gm. 



Sterna sinensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 608 (1788), based on the 

 Chinese Tern of Latham. 



Sterna minuta, Ilorsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. 1820, xiii. p. 198. 



Sternula sinensis, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 430 ; id. P. Z.S. 1863, 

 p. 329. 



Sternula minuta, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 422 (Formosa and 

 China). 



Sternula placens, Gould, Ann. Nat. Hist. viii. p. 192 (1871); 

 id. B. New Guinea, pt. iii. pi. 7 (May 1876). 



Like S. minuta, but shafts of outer primaries white ; as a rule 

 also the bird is a trifle larger and stouter, and has a longer develop- 

 ment of lateral tail-feathers than S. minuta. 



Ranges from Ceylon, where it breeds, to the China seas, to 

 Queensland, and down the Australian coast ; how far I cannot say, 

 as I have no specimens from there with trustworthy localities. 

 From Ceylon Capt. Vincent Legge, R.A., has sent me a fine series, 

 with the eggs, which are, as might naturally be expected, like those 

 of $. minuta. He also sent me a nestling with the outer quill- 

 feathers only partially developed ; and on comparing it with a 



* Dr. Coues (B. of N.W. Am. p. 094) distinguisLcs & antillarum from S. minuta 

 by its grey rump and smaller bill with little black at tbe tip ; but he goes on to 

 argue that because it has sometimes no black at all on the bill, as is the case with 

 <S. superciliaris, which has, in its turn, a bill as stout or stouter than 8. minuta, 

 therefore »S'. superciliaris and 8. antillarum are to be united. I fail to see how 

 he can consistently do this without putting all the small Terns under one head ; 

 for the stout bill, especially so from the angle to the tip, and the abrupt pro- 

 longation of the outer tail-feathers in S. superciliaris, to Bay nothing of coloration, 

 suffice to distinguish it from any other member of the group. 



