1882. | FROM PERU AND CHILI. 521 
grey, much lighter than in the adult, and the moustache-like plumes 
beneath the eye merely show traces of the white colour which is 
subsequently assumed. The breeding-haunts of this bird are still 
unknown; they are surmised to be on the island of San Lorenzo, in 
Callao Bay, and in similar situations along the coast, but nothing 
has yet been positively ascertained. 
STerNA MAxIMA, Bodd. 
Sterna maxima, Bodd. Tab. Pl. Enl. p. 58, no. 988 (1783) ; Sel. 
& Salv. P. Z.S. 1871, p. 567; Saund. op. cit. 1876, p. 655. 
[No. 78(¢), no. 79(Q), Payta, January 1882. Eyes black. ] 
Nearly adult, but the secondaries still show some of the dark 
markings indicative of immaturity, and only the crown and nape 
are as yet streaked with black ; the bill is orange-yellow. In the 
adult, in breeding-plumage, the entire crown from the base of the 
bill is deep glossy black—a characteristic which distinguishes it 
from Sterna bergii of the African and Indian seas, in which a 
broad fillet of white intervenes between the black forehead and the 
base of the bill. These two species were long confounded ; and as 
S. maxima, which is properly an American species, reaches across 
to the west coast of Africa, and even as far north as the Straits of 
Gibraltar, it may not be superfluous to point out this distinction. 
S. mazima has also a lighter mantle than 8. dergit ; but impinging 
upon the range of the latter comes a large light-mantled Tern, 
S. bernsteini, found between the island of Rodriguez and the island 
of Halmahera. ‘This last very rare species, in its winter plumage, 
much resembles S. maxima; the breeding-plumage is as yet un- 
known, so that it is at present impossible to say if the black crown 
extends to the base of the bill or is terminated by a white band. 
STERNA ELEGANS, Gamb. 
Sterna elegans, Gamb. Pr. Phil. Ac. iv. p. 129 (1848); Saund. 
P. Z.S. 1876, p. 653. 
[No. 32, Callao Bay, Sept. 1881; nos. 33 & 34, Coquimbo Bay, 
Nov. 1881. Eyes dark brown. | 
Adult, but not old, birds, in winter plumage, in which only the 
nape and crown are black. The Callao example is slightly smailer 
than the two others; but this is the only difference. 
It was with diffidence that I separated its Atlantic representative 
from this species, under the name of S. ewrygnatha (P. Z.8. 1876, 
p. 654); but the subsequent examination of a more extensive series 
has hitherto confirmed the views then entertained as regards their 
specific distinetness, mainly based upon the relative position of the 
mandibular angle. 
The breeding-resorts of S. elegans are as yet unrecorded, nor 
have I hitherto succeeded in examiniug an adult in nuptial dress. 
It is known to frequent the coast as far north as California, and will 
probably be found breeding along the Pacific shores of Mexico; 
nevertheless Mr. Forrer, who found S. maatma abundant in Lower 
California, did not obtain S. elegans. 
35* 
