AVES NORTH. 83 



3. STERNA MELANAUCHEN. 



Black-naped Tern. 



Sterna melanauchen, Temm. PL Col., Vol iv. pi. 427 (1827); 

 Gould, Bds. Austr., Vol. vii. pi. 28 (1848, Torres Strait) ; 

 Finsch, Ibis, 1880, pp. 431, 433 (Gilbert Islands) ; North, 

 Nests and Eggs Austr. Bds. p. 356 (1889), egg ; Saunders, 

 Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. xxv. p. 126 (1896). 

 " Agiagi," Natives of Funafuti. 



One adult female, shot while feeding on the beach not far from 

 the village. Wing 8 '5 in. Not common. 



4. MlCRANOUS LEUCOCAPILLUS. 



White-capped Tern. 



Anous leucocapillus, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845, p. 103 (Raine 

 Islet, North Australia); id. Bds. Austr., Vol. vii. pi. 36 (1848); 

 Sharpe, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1878, p. 273 (Ellice Islands). 

 Anous melanogenys, Gray, Gen. Bds., Vol. iii. p. 661, pi. 182 

 (1846) ; Crowfoot, Ibis, 1885, p. 246 (Norfolk Island, breed- 

 ing) ; North, Nests and Eggs Austr. Bds., p. 376, pi. xxi. 

 fig. 5 (1889), Norfolk and Phillip Islands. 

 Micranous leucocapillus, Saunders, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. xxv. 



p. 146 (1896). 

 " Lakea," Natives of Funafuti. 



Two adult males in full breeding plumage, and a nestling. 

 Wings of adult measures 9 inches. One egg of a faint creamy- 

 white ground colour, minutely dotted and blotched with dull 

 purplish brown particularly on the larger end, some of the mark- 

 ings appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; length 

 1-82 x 1-26 in. 



Mr. Hedley has contributed the following note relative to this 

 species : 



"The 'Lakea' breeds freely on the smaller islets of the atoll, 

 which being destitute of fresh water are not habitable by natives. 

 On the main islet it is too harrassed to nest. In the tall Pouka 

 trees (Hernandia peltata, Meissn.) it swarms in such numbers 

 that half-a-dozen birds may be knocked over at a shot. Uttering 

 their hoarse cry the remainder of the flock wheel round and settle 

 in a few moments on the adjacent trees. On June 30th I landed 

 on one of the leewards islets with a native, and found the 

 ' Lakea ' nesting in great numbers in the branches of the Fala 

 (Pandanus odoratissimus) ; each tree was so crowded with nests 

 that a fork was rarely unoccupied, and where a limb was suffi- 

 ciently broad and horizontal that too was utilised for a site, one 

 bough might thus carry a dozen nests. Their structure was of 

 the most flimsy description, and defied my efforts to preserve a 



