1872.] MR. E. W. H. HOLDSWORTH ON CEYLONESE BIRDS. 481 



this species, but believe I have often seen it near the Aripo pearl- 

 banks. 



309. Sterna melanogaster, Temm. 



I have frequently seen this Tern near Aripo, and occasionally at 

 Colombo. Layard found it common on some of the inland lakes as 

 well as on the coast. 



310. Sterna nigra, Linn. 

 Sterna leucoptera, Temm. 



I shot one of a pair of these birds in May 18GG. They were fly- 

 ing about over a small tank, not very far from the shore, about six 

 miles from Aripo, and were in rather imperfect plumage, the head 

 and neck being speckled. The characters of the species, however, 

 were unmistakable. My specimen is now in the Colombo Museum. 

 This is the only occasion of this Tern having been recognized in 

 Ceylon ; and it has only been recently added by Mr. Hume to the 

 Indian avifauna. 



Ceylon, India, China, North Africa, South Europe. 



311. Sterna gracilis, Gould? 



I include, with some doubt, under this heading a Tern shot in 

 July 1869, on the Colombo beach; others of the same kind were 

 killed at the time; and they were all in rather immature plumage. 

 This specimen has been examined by Mr. Howard Saunders and Mr. 

 Gould, and is believed by those gentlemen to be S. gracilis, and in 

 that case a visitor to Ceylon during the Australian winter. It had the 

 bill reddish black, hides black, and feet dull fleshy red. S. gracilis 

 is allied to S. hirundo, but has the bill slighter, the upper tail-coverts 

 grey as on the back and tail, and the whole under surface white. 



312. Sternula sinensis, Gmel. 1 



There is, I think, some doubt about the species to which Layard 

 refers under the name of S. minuta, and which he speaks of as fre- 

 quenting the inland lakes, though "most common on tanks and still 

 waters near the sea-shore." I have never succeeded in obtaining a 

 specimen of true S. minuta ; and Mr. Legge, who has collected 

 many of the Ceylon Terns, has been equally unsuccessful ; but we 

 have both frequently met with a small species in winter dress which 

 may have been mistaken for it. This bird agrees in measurements 

 and general colouring with S. sinensis, Gmel. (S. sumatrana, llaffles), 

 and differs from S. minuta in having a black bill and the shaft of 

 the first primary white. It was also collected by Mr. Jesse during 

 the late Abyssinian expedition. 



313. Thalasseus cristatus, Stephens. 



This Tern is not uncommon on the west coast during summer. I 

 have identified a specimen killed on the beach at Colombo in com- 

 pany with smaller species. 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1872, No. XXXI. 



