HYDEOCHELLDON LETJCOPTEEA. 1001 



Lores and forehead white ; a black spot in front of eye ; crown, occiput, and nape blackish brown, some of the 

 feathers faintly edged with white ; ear-coverts black, continuous with the black of the crown, behind thern the 

 white of the neck encroaches on the dark colour ; hind neck white, feathers at the lower part tipped with blackish 

 brown ; back and wings dusky slate-grey ; upper tail-coverts paler ; tail tinged with brown, the lateral feathers 

 white, except at the tip ; least wing-coverts dark brown ; the median very pale grey ; the greater and the secon- 

 daries brownish grey, inner webs of the primaries blackish grey. This individual, though it presents no appearance 

 of a change to summer plumage, is evidently a full year old, although it is hard to say in what region or at what 

 time of the year it was bred. An example, apparently of the same age, from Eussia is acquiring the breeding- 

 plumage. 



Obs. This Tern can be distinguished in the immature stages from the last species by its smaller size (wing 7'8 inches 

 against 8*5 in the quite young bird of H. hybrida), its slenderer bill, smaller legs and feet, and by the peculiar 

 white patch or " indentation " behind the ear-coverts. From the young of the Black Tern it differs in the longer 

 feet and toes and the paler upper tail-coverts. This latter Marsh-Tern (H. nigra, Linn.) differs from the subject 

 of the present article in having the back and underparts in summer plumage dark sooty slate-colour, the head 

 and hind neck only being black ; the wing-coverts are slate-coloured, like the back, and the under wing greyish 

 white instead of black. The feet and legs are smaller than those of H. leucoptera. Examples in my collection 

 measure — wing 8-5 inches ; bill at front l - 05 to 1 - 15. 



Distribution. — This handsome Marsh-Tern lias, singularly enough, proved itself a more frequent straggler 

 to Ceylon than to India. It was added to the avifauna of the island hy Mr. Holdsworth, who had the good 

 fortune to meet with a pair in May 1866, flying about a small tank six miles from Aripu ; one of these he 

 procured, the specimen being now in the Colombo Museum. In October 1874 I saw an adult still in summer 

 plumage in Koddiyar (Kottiar) Bay, near Trincomalie ; and in July of the previous year I obtained a small 

 immature Marsh-Tern at Hambantota, which I could not identify at the time, but which, on comparison with 

 specimens in Mr. Howard Saunders's fine collection, turns out to be the young of this species. 



In the ' Ibis/ 1870, p. 436, Mr. Hume added it to the Indian list, publishing a notice of a specimen shot 

 in full plumage at Tipperah, in East Bengal, by Mr. V. Irwin ; since that date, however, it does not appear 

 to have occurred within Indian limits. That it should not occur more frequently in the Indo-tropical region 

 is noteworthy, as it is diffused right across the continent of Asia (breeding in Turkestan) to Mongolia and 

 China, where it is common, and southward of which it extends to the Malay archipelago, having been pro- 

 cured in Borneo and Celebes, and beyond which region again it must occasionally stray down the Australian 

 coast, as Mr. Buller records an instance of a pair having been shot in the Province of Nelson on the Waihopai 

 river in 1868 ; he also states that " it has been found in Australia of late." In China Pere David found it 

 common on the sea-coast and about inland waters, and met with it in Mongolia in numerous flocks on passage 

 in the month of August. Prjevalsky found it breeding in abundance in the Lake-Hanka basiu and at Lake 

 Tsaidemin-nor, and noticed stragglers in Ala-shan. It must also breed in China, as there are specimens in 

 full breeding-plumage in Swinhoe's collection. Northwards it has been procured in Kamtchatka ; and on the 

 Amoor Schrenck obtained it in July 1855. It ranges as far north as Southern Siberia, Pallas having met 

 with it on the Ob. It is more numerous in South-eastern Europe than in any other part of the world, 

 inhabiting the shores of the Caspian Sea and the river Volga in great abundance. In Asia Minor it has 

 not been met with ; but Canon Tristram saw it in Palestine. It occurs in Cyprus and in the Epirus, and in 

 summer is found in Hungary, breeding there as well as in Southern Germany. It strays into Northern 

 Europe during the summer in small numbers, occurring rarely in Denmark, and having once been procured 

 in Sweden. It is very rare in England, having been now and then procured on the east coast in summer, 

 and on two occasions has strayed as far west as Ireland. In Northern France it is rare, but in the south it 

 is common. In Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Malta it is seen in the spring ; and in the Balearic Isles it is 

 stated to breed. Mr. Saunders met with it rarely in Southern Spain, but found it common on the east coast 

 at Valencia. It is not recorded from Morocco, or from anywhere except Gambia on the west coast of Africa ; 

 but it is not uncommon in South Africa, being recorded as such on freshwater lakes in Damara Land by 

 Mr. Andersson, and about lagoons and marshes by Messrs. Buckley and Ayres in December and November. 

 Returning to North Africa, we have Loche finding it breeding in Algeria, and Von Heuglin stating that it 



