836 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



Gen. Gelochelidon, Brehm. 



Syn. Viralva, Stephens. 



Bill moderately strong, the culmen very slightly curved, 

 gonys much angulated ; tail forked ; tarsus rather long. Bill 

 black. 



983. Gelochelidon anglicus, Montagu. 



Sterna apud Montagu— Blyth, Cat. 1699— Jerdon, Cat. 400 

 and 403— Sykes, Cat. 232— S. affinis, Horsp. 



The Gull-billed Tern. 



Descr. — In summer, the forehead, crown, and nape deep black ; 

 mantle, wings and tail light grey, paling on the tail ; quills 

 hoary-grey, the first five primaries tipped with dusky on their 

 inner webs ; sides of the head and plumage beneath pure 

 white. 



Bill and legs black, irides dark brown. Length 14 to 16 inches; 

 wing 13 to 14^, exceeding the tail by 1\ inches ; extent 38 to 40 ; 

 tail 5 to 6 ; bill at front \\ ; tarsus \\. 



In winter the* head is white with grey streaks, the ear-coverts, 

 and (more or less) round the eyes dusky. The young is somewhat 

 similar to the adult in winter plumage, but has the primaries all 

 dusky-grey. 



This Tern is exceedingly abundant over all India, frequenting 

 tanks, marshes, and rivers, and occasionally hunting over the 

 fields. It feeds alike on aquatic food, and on grasshoppers, beetles, 

 and other insects, and is a noisy bird. It does not breed in 

 this country, that I am aware of. Mr. Brooks, Civil Engineer, 

 Mirzapore, who has paid much attention to the nidification of 

 these and other birds, informed me that he saw these birds pass- 

 ing up the Ganges in continued flocks, whilst other species were 

 breeding at the time in the vicinity. The birds that visit India 

 probably breed in Central and Western Asia. This species is 

 known to breed in the marshes of Eastern Europe in numbers, 

 being rare however in England, in spite of its very inappropriate 

 specific name. Some closely allied races are separated specifically 

 by Bonaparte and others. 



