324 ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF SINDH. 



The whole upper back is white, and the mantle a paler and less 

 pure grey than in the adult. — A. 0. H.] 



988.— Sterna minuta,* Lin. 



This Ternlet is common at the same seasons as the preceding 

 in the Kurrachee Harbour and along the Mekran Coast. In 

 this case also I do not know whether the bird occurs also in the 

 winter ; at any rate Mr. Hume did not notice it. I found numerous 

 nests on the bare maidan between Kurrachee and Clifton in 

 May and June, collecting in all about 40 eggs, and subjoin a 

 note from my nesting memoranda referring to its breeding 

 habits : — 



"Kurrachee, 6t/i May 1877. — Noticed several of these Terns 

 (S. minuta) flying backwards and forwards over the maidan 

 between the Camp and Clifton. As they had only just arrived, 

 and as they appeared much devoted to the spot and bent on 

 matrimonial pursuits, I got out of my trap and commenced a 

 search for eggs. The soil was slightly damp from the effects 

 of tidal inundations, with here and there patches of hard, dry, 

 incrustated ground covered with saline efflorescence, ana in 

 these patches the nests, consisting of a slight depression in the 

 ground scratched out by the old birds, were situated. I also 

 found nests on ground cut up by Artillery Gnn Carriages, the 

 eggs being deposited in the wheel ruts and in the horse's foot- 

 prints. 



The description in " Nests and Eggs/' Pt. III., p. 655, 

 answers well to the eggs I procured, viz., pale drab with, in some 

 eggs, a faint greenish tinge or greyish stone color with primary 

 streaks, blotches, and spots of deep brown and secondary clouds 

 and spots of pale inky lilac. The markings vary considerably 

 in extent and intensity, some eggs being boldly and numerously 

 marked, whilst others are marked only faintly and sparingly. 

 None of the nests I examined contained more than two eggs, 

 which seems to be contrary to Mr. Hume's experience, and I 

 may also observe that the birds in this neighbourhood feed ex- 

 clusively in salt water, being common all over the harbour and 

 in the salt marshes adjoining." 



[The birds sent by Captain Butler do not belong to the same 

 race as that whose nidification 1 described, and are certainly not 

 minuta unless we agree to unite all the races of little Terns 

 under oue name. 



I am by no means sure that this will not be found hereafter 

 to be the proper course. The subject is one that I shall discuss 

 at length in a separate paper on our Indian Larida, but in the 

 meantime it may be as well to note, for the information of my 



* 988 ter. — Sterna Saundersi, nobis, vide infra. 



