Birds of Celebes: Laridae. 993 



(4, 5, 12); Sumatra (fide Salvadori b 11); Java (Horsfield b 4, 12y, Borneo 

 (Schwaner, etc. (?, 12, c 1); Philippines — Mindoro (Bourns & Worcester llj, 

 Palawan (Whitehead 7), Mindanao (Steere c 5); Celebes — North (Meyer el, e 2, 

 e 5); ? Timor (S. Miiller c 1); New Guinea — S. coast (fide E. P. Ramsay b 4. b djl 

 New Britain (Finsch b 4, B. & H. Geisler /; 8); Islands of Torres Straits (Gould, 

 Masters (/ 11, b 4, 12); Austraha — Northern and Eastern (Ramsay, etc. b 5, b 6, 12). 



The Oriental form of the Little Tern was met with by Meyer in 1870—71, 

 but has not since been obtained from Celebes, unless the two immature ex- 

 amples in the British Museum are from another source. Meyer obtained several 

 adults, recorded by Lord Walden, Most probably it is only a winter visitor 

 to Celebes. Mr. Whitehead (7) says it is a winter visitor to Palawan, arriving 

 about the 20*'' September; Mr. Styan (JO) notices it as a spring and autumn 

 bird of passage on the Lower Yangtse, and Kalinowski (b 10) found it abundant 

 in Corea in spring, rare in summer and absent in winter. Mr. De La Touche 

 discovered it nesting in South China at Swatow in June; here it is a summer 

 visitant. In Ceylon Legge found it to be most noticeable in the breeding 

 season, but he is not prepared to say that most of the birds leave the island 

 for the rest of the year. Mr. North has recorded its breeding in Australia, 

 and it is clear from the young specimen in the Dresden Museum that it also 

 nests in New Britain, but there seem to be no observations to show whether 

 it is strictly stationary or not, south of the equator. 



The White-shafted Little Tern is one of a group of closely allied forms, so 

 closely allied in fact that we fear that the marks of distinction pointed out by 

 Mr. Howard Saunders and others will hardly hold good for all cases; but of 

 this we have no proof. S. sinensis is separable from »S. minuta , which ranges 

 from Europe and Africa to India and has occurred in Java, by the shafts of 

 the primaries which are white, whereas in S. minuta the two or three outer- 

 most are brown above. Sterna nereis Gould of New Zealand, Australia and New 

 Caledonia is also white-shafted, but it has only a spot of black in front of the eye, 

 instead of a band reaching to the base of the bill. S. sannder si Hume , ranging 

 from E. Africa to Burmah is described as black-shafted and with a straight 

 culmen (12). Other forms are found in America. 



-^ 385. STERNA MELANAUCHEN Temm. 



Black-tilletted Tern. 



Sterna melanauchen (I) Temm., PI. Col. 1827, pi. 427; (II) Gould, B. Austr. 1848, YD., 

 pi. 28; (3j Schl., Mus. P.-B., Sternae, 1863, 28; (4) Gould, Hlx B. Austr. 1865, 

 IT, 400; (o) Finsch, Neu Guinea 1865, 184; (6) Finsch & Hartl., Om. Central- 

 polyn. 1867, 224; (7) Finsch, J. Mus. God. 1875, YDI, 41 ; (8) Saund., P. Z. S. 

 1876, 661; (9) David & Oustal., Ois. Chine 1877, 526; (10) Rosenb., Malay. 

 Ai-chip. 1878, 279; (11) Nehrk., J. f. 0. 1879, 409; (12) Finsch, J. f. O. I88O, 

 295; (13) Lay., Ibis 1882, 540, 544; (14) Salvad., Om. Pap. 1S82, IH, 443; 

 (15) Gates, B. Br. Burmah 1883, H, 429, (16) W. Blasius, J. f. 0. 1883, 127; 



