348 NOTES ON SOME BURMESE BIRDS. 



tail, 54, 5'5 ; wing, 159, 154 ; tarsus, 1*78, 1 -68 ; bill from gape, 

 37, 3'85 ; the bill was orange, the subterminal portion bluish 

 brown, and the tip yellow ; the inside of the month, orange ; 

 iris, very dark brown ; legs, toes and webs, black; claws, 

 black above, white below. 



984. — Sterna hybrida, Pall. — Ilydrochelidon indica, 

 Steph. apud Jerdon. 



I identify with the above a Tern which is very numerous in 

 the Sittano- River and neifrhbonrino- waters from the beo-imiino- of 

 the cold weather to the end of the hot, or from November to Ma}'. 

 I have not yet been able to send specimens to Mr. Hume for 

 identification.* It is by far the most abundant Tern in Lower 

 Pegu, with the exception of S. aurantia. 



* I take the opportunity of reproducing (vide infra) from the Ihis, two of the late 

 lamented Capt. Beavan's descriptions of supposed new Terns, of which I have never been 

 able to make auything, vis., Stemula Jerdoni, and Gelochelidon innotata.— 



" 988.— Sternula minuta, Little Tern. 



" Should it, however, be a new species, I would proposo for it the name S. Jerdont, 

 although perhaps it may be S. orientalis, Licht., or that mentioned by Mr. Gould 

 (P. Z. S., 1855, p. 50). 



" It agrees tolerably well with Dr. Jerdon's description of S. minuta ; but all the 

 dimensions are much larger. I procured this specimen in Burmah at Thatong, near 

 Moulmein, but on the Martaban side of the river, on 1st October 1865. Its dimensions 

 were as follows: — Length, 13 inches ; wings, 10; tail, 4 - 37, the outer tail-feathers 

 exceeding the rest by 1 inch ; bill from front, 1*62 ; tarsus, - 75 ; irides deep brown, 

 nearly black ; wing extending -75 inch beyond tail. This species is found in consider- 

 able numbers on the Thatong creek ; and some (probably adult birds) have the head 

 pure black. In the present specimen it is pearly grey, slightly tinged only with black, 

 which becomes more conspicuous on the nape, and extends as a black line across the 

 eye and ear-coverts. The bill is yellow, tipped with black, and the feet a deep orange 

 with black claws. After reading my M.S. description of this bird, Dr Jerdon told 

 me, it was allied to S. javanica, but was utterly unknown to him. 



Another species of Tern, procured in Burmah, also near Thatong, is unknown to 

 me ; and as I am unable to refer it correctly to any known species, I will provisionally 

 assign to it the name of 



" Sterna innotata, % S. 



" Its position is somewhere between the genera Gelochelidon and Oni/clioprion, as 

 characterized by Dr. Jerdon. Its spcciQc characters are as follows : — Bill black ; feet 

 dull dark red ; tail not forked, but nearly square in flight ; wings long, and exceeding 

 the tail by 2 inches; forehead white ; head and nape brown, slightlv mixed with white; 

 a white line extends from the base of the bill under the eye to behind the ear-coverts. 

 The under parts are pure white, the back and tail-coverts being a light grey colour, 

 which is also the colour of the tail, but it is tipped with brown ; the scapulars are 

 grey, also tipped with brown ; the primaries are white, with brown on either side of 

 the shafts, the tips tinted with the same colour. The outermost part of the inner 

 webs of the secondary quills are pale grey; and the tertials are brownish grey, 

 with white shafts, and hoary, or pale grey on their outer webs. The toes are only 

 partially webbed. The irides dark brown. Dimensions as follows : — Length, 9*5 inches; 

 wing, 8'4; tail, 3; tarsus, - 81 ; bill from front, 1'12. This species was procured on 

 October 4th, 1865, on the Thatong creek, not far from the sea, and within tidal influ- 

 ence. I believe that Dr. Jerdon saw my M.S. account of this species in 1866, but 

 did not at the time refer it to any known species." 



It is understood that the types passed into Lord Waldcn's possession. I wish ho 

 would tell us, or get Mr. Howard Saunders to tell uSj what they really are. — Ed., S. F. 



