902 Birds of Celebes: Laridae. 



(11) Bns. & Worces., B. Menage Exped. 1894, 31; (12) Sauiul, Cat. B. 1896, 

 XXV, 113. 



a. Sterna pusUla (1) Temm., Man. d'Orn. 2"'' ed. 1840, pt. 4, 465. 



b. Sternula sinensis (1) Boie, Isis 1844, 183; (2) David & Oust, Ois. Chine 1877, 527; 



(3) A. Mull., J. f. O. 1882, 438; (4) Salvad., Orn. Pap. 1882, IH, 445; (5) Rams., 

 Tab. List 1888, 23; (6) North, Nests & Eggs B. Austr. App. 1890, 405; (7) Salvad., 

 Agg. Orn. Pap. 1891, 212; (8) Meyer, Abh. Mus. Dresden 1891, Nr. 4, p. 17; 

 (9) De La Touche, Ibis 1892, 503; (10) Tacz., Faun. Orn. Sib. Orient. 1893, n, 

 1014; (11) Salvad., Boll. Mus. Torino 1896, XI, Nr. 250, 14. 



c. Sterna minuta (nee Linn.); (1) Schl. , Mus. P.-B., Stemae, 1863, 22, partim; (2) Rosenb., 



Malay. Archip. 1878, 279; (3) Steere, List Coll. B. & M. Philipp. 1890, 27. 



(/. Sternula placens (1) Gould, Ann. Mag. N. H. 1871, Vm, 192; (II) id., B. New Guinea 

 1876, V, pi. 72. 



e. Sternula minuta (nee Linn.j; (1) Wald., Tr. Z. S. 1872, VIII, 118; (2) Meyer, J. f. O. 

 1873, 405; (3) id.. Ibis 1879, 145. 



For further synonymy and references cf. Salvadori b 4, b 7; H. Saunders 12. 



Figures and descriptions. Gould rf 71; Seebohm5, woodcut of head; Legge 4; Salvadori 

 b 4; Oates 5; Taczanowski b 10; H. Saunders 12. 



Breeding plumage. Crown, occiput, nape, and a band from the eye to the base of 

 the bill uniform black; forehead wliite, extending as a stripe to over the eye; 

 upper parts hght grey, pearl-grey on neck, primaries frosted with pearl-grey, all 

 the shafts above, as well as below, white; secondaries tipped with whitish; tail 

 and upper tail-coverts nearly wliite; chin, face, and under parts, including 

 under wing-coverts und tail below white; primaries below greyish dusky, 

 whitish on inner portion of inner webs; wing 180 mm; tail 95; depth of fork about 

 48; tarsus 18.5; middle toe and claw 17; exposed culmen 30 (Japan — C 11337). 



"Iris hazel-brown; bill gamboge -yellow, sometimes without a dark tip, but 

 generally with more or less of the tips of both mandibles, for a distance of 8.9 mm, 

 black; legs and feet orange-yellow. In some females the legs are dusky orange" 

 (Legge 4). 



Winter plumage. In winter the crown as well as the forehead is white; blackish in fix)nt 

 of the eye. 



Young. Above pale cinnamon-buff and grey, the feathers marked with subterminal U-shaped 

 bars of dusky; nape and sides of occiput and spot in front of eye black; crown 

 streaked with black and buff-brown; forehead whitish; under parts including tail white 

 (New Britain: B. & H. Geisler — C 10164). 



"Bill, lower mandible and edge of upper fleshy yellow, culmen and tip of lower 

 mandible dusky; legs and feet dingy yellow" (Legge 4). 



Eggs. Resemble those of S. miyiuta of Europe with fine spots. The ground-colour is a pale 

 clay-yellow, the spots and points smaller than those on eggs of the European species 

 compared; the supei-ficial ones of dark brown, the inferior of greyish brown are rather 

 numerous and distributed over the whole surface, more numerously at the blunt end. 

 Dimensions: 33 X 25 mm; 34 X 26; 38 X 23 (Ussuriland — Taczanowski b 10); 

 see, also, Legge 4; Hume 8; North b 6. 



Nest. A little hollow scratched out, lined with a few bits of grass-stalk, etc., on gravel, or 

 sliingle, or sand, on the shores of rivers or on islands therein, or in dried-up reservoirs, 

 shores of lagoons, or of bays of the sea (4, 8, b 9). 



Distribution. S.E.Siberia, Ussuriland and Corea (b 10)-, Japan and Loochoo Islands (9); 

 Formosa ('iSj ; Hainan, China ^6 2, 10): Bay of Bengal, Ceylon, Bm-mah and Malacca 



