336 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON BIRDS FROM DIEGO GARCIA. [JuilC 29, 



nuptial dress at the date of Mr. Bourne's visit, whereas this example 

 is not so. 



5. BuTORiDES jAVANiCA (Horsf.). " Macaqiie." 



[No. 1. d". Sept. 22nd, 1885. Eye light golden-yellow. Skin 

 at base of benk yellow. 



No. 10. 2. East islet, 28th October, 1885. 



These birds are common, and may be seen any evening standing 

 by the rock-pools, or on the beach at low water, on the look-out for 

 fish. They are rather shy, and when alarmed fly off with a shrill 

 cry like kac-lac Icac-kac kacJ] 



6. Tringa subarquata (Giildenst.). 

 [No. 14. d" . Eye black. 



Tolerably common, frequenting spots where slimy mud is left bare 

 at low water.] 



7. NuMENius PH^opus (Linn.). " Corbijeu." 

 [No. 13. c? . Eye black. 



Common, but very shy and difficult to approach. I only got one 

 shot during my stay.] 



8. Strepsilas interpres (Linn.). " Alouette-de-Mer." *■ 

 [No. 6. 2 . October 22nd, 1885. Eye dark brown. 

 Common on soft marshy ground. They usually fly in flocks of 



twenty to thirty.] 



9. Dromas ardeola. 



[No. 12. d". Eye black. 



Common along the outer shores and in marshy places. Wary 

 and difficult to approach.] 



The fact that the Crab-Plover breeds in burrows and lays a single 

 white egg, similar to that of a Shearwater, has been known for some 

 years. (See P. Z. S. 1881, p. 259.) 



10. Sterna BERNSTEiNi, Schlegel. " Goeland." 



[No. 9. J- October 9th, 1885. Eye black. Not common.] 

 An immature specimen of this very rare Tern, the adult breeding- 

 dress of which is still unknown. It is nearly of the size of Sterna 

 bergii, from which it may be distinguished by the very light colour 

 of the mantle and by the white tail-coverts. We have yet to learn 

 whether the adult in nuptial dress has a white frontal band at the 

 base of the bill, as in S. bergii, or whether the black of the forehead 

 comes down to the bill as in most other Terns. The present species is 

 known from Halmaheira on the one side, and the Rodriguez waters 

 on the other, and that is about all that can be said. The type from 

 the first-named locality is in the Leyden Museum; there are two 

 examples from Round Island and He de la Baleine, near Mauritius, 

 ill the collection of Messrs. A. and E. Newton ; two more from the 

 island of Rodriguez are in the British Museum of Natural History : 

 the present is the sixth example I have examined. 



