1876. J MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN.E. G63 



S. minuta of the same age, the difference in the colour of the shafts 

 of the primaries was very apparent. There is often a grey tint on 

 the rump and tail-coverts of winter-killed and immature specimens. 



Sterna sumatrana, Raffl. 



Sterna sumatrana, RafHes, Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. (1822) p. 329. 



Sterna pusilla, S. Midler {fide Gray) — Timor and Java. 



Bill smaller and more slender than even in £. antillarum, but 

 with much black between the angle and tip ; tail-coverts and tail yrey 

 as in the back ; shafts of primaries black. 



Captain V. Legge has sent me a nearly adult specimen of this 

 Tern from Ceylon ; and the fact of two such different forms as 

 this and the preceding being met with there is somewhat remark- 

 able ; a similar specimen is in my collection, from the coast of 

 Fantee. Lord Walden has a specimen from Zoulla, Red Sea, 

 obtained by Mr. W. Jesse ; and that is all I know about this 

 small dark form of the group, which is even darker than S. antil- 

 larum on the rump and tail, and has also a good deal more black 

 on the bill. I have adopted Raffles's name for it, because the de- 

 scription and locality seem to fit it fairly ; and, in default of a larger 

 series, I do not wish to incur the odium of making species upon 

 slight grounds. 



Sterna nereis (Gould). 



Sternula nereis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 140, B. Australia, vii. 

 pi. 29 (1848) — Bass's Straits and West Australia. 



Sterna parva, Ellman, Zoologist, 1 So" 1, p. 7473. 



Sterna nereis, Pelzeln, Verb, zool.-bot. Gesellsch. Wien, xxii. 

 p. 318 (IS67); Buller, B. New Zeal. p. 285 (1873). 



Sterna minuta, Finsch, J. f. Orn. 1867, pp. 337, 347. 



Sterna alba, Potts, Trans. N.Z. Inst. 1870, p. 106. 



This species, which appears to be confined to Australia and New 

 Zealand, may be distinguished from the other small Terns by its 

 somewhat larger size, the paler grey of the mantle and especially of the 

 primaries, and by its having 710 black lores, but only a dark spot in 

 front of the eye. In the young the distinction is not so easy ; but 

 the primaries are always lighter than in 5. minuta or S. sinensis. 



Sterna exilis, Tsch. 



Sterna exilis, Tschudi, F. Per., Aves, p. 306 (1846); Sclater, 

 P. Z. S. 1867, pp. 336 & 344 ; Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 572. 



Sterna loruta, Ph. & Landb. Wieg. Arch. 1863, pt. i. p. 124. 



Sternula loricata (!), Gray, Hand-list, iii. p. 121 (1871). 



The general smoke-grey of the under as well as the upper parts, 

 and the large amount of black on the bill, will always serve to 

 distinguish this species, of which I have only seen two specimens — 

 one in Messrs. Salvin and Godman's collection, and one in the 

 British Museum. Both these are from the coast of Peru and Chili ; 

 but of its breeding-places we know nothing at present. 



