206 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxii. 



LARUS RIDIBUNDUS Linnaeus. 



Larus ridibiindus LiNN/KUS, Syst. Nat., 12th eel., I, 1766, p. 225. 

 One specimen, from the Valley of Casbmere. This is an adult male 

 in winter plumage, with no brown hood, and with dusky only on auric- 

 ulars; the black and white areas on primaries are very sharply defined. 

 "Irides blackish brown; feet red; claws black; bill red, the tip black. 

 Length, 16 inches." 



STERNA HIRUNDO TIBETANA (Saunders). 



Sterna tihetaxa Saunders, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1876, p. 649. 



Two adult males: one from the Indus Eiver at Mya, Ladak, 13,000 

 feet, September 11,1897; the other from Tsomoriri Lake, Ladak, 15,000 

 feet, July 29, 1897. "Length, 13J and llj inches, respectively. Iris 

 dark brown; bill red, the tip black; feet red; claws black." 



Careful comparison with a large series of American and European 

 specimens indicates that the bird from Thibet, though not sijecitically 

 distinct from >S\ Mrundo, is yet well worthy of separation as a geograph- 

 ical race, to which the name tibetana is applicable. This central Asian 

 form is much darker on the mantle and much less whitish on the nape; 

 the lower parts also are of a deeper gray, particularly on the flanks. 



Family CHAEADRIIDAE. 



OCHTHODROMUS INCONSPICUUS (Wagler). 



Charadrius inconspicuus Wagler, Isis, 1829, p. 651. 



Charadrms pyrrhothorax Gould, Birds Europe, IV, 1837, pi. 299. 



JEgiaUiis pamirensis Richmond, Proc. U. S. Nat, Miis., XVIII, 1896, p. 589. 



Six specimens (four adult males, one female, and one immature male) 

 from various localities in Ladak, at from 14,000 to 15,000 feet; taken 

 July 7 to 20, and September 8, 1>>97. Among the males the amount and 

 shade of the ochraceous on the crown varies considerably, and on the 

 upper tail-coverts of one specimen there is very little brown; otherwise 

 all are very similar. There are a few small flecks of white in the black 

 of the forehead and lores, particularly the latter, but this effect is due 

 to the wearing off of the black tips of the feathers, with its consequent 

 exposure of the white basal portions, and would probably not be notice- 

 able in fresh plumage. "Length, 7^ to 7^- inches. Iris dark brown; 

 bill, feet, and claws black." 



Dr. Sliarpe dismisses the female of this species with the remark that 

 it is "similar to (he male ; " ' but as a matter of fact it diff'ers very notice- 

 ably in having the black of the forehead and lores replaced by pale 

 ochraceous brown mixed with white, that of the subocular and auricu- 

 lar regions by dull brown. The crown is also duller, the breastband 



' Cat. Birds Brie. Mus., XXIV, 1896, p. 228. 



