1024 STERNA SAUNDERSI. 



Obs. I bave followed Mr. Hume in applying tbe title saundersi to this species instead of sumatrana, which lias been 

 adopted by Mr. Saunders, because I think Raffles's description of his small species from Sumatra does not satis- 

 factorily apply to our bird. It is that of a young bird, and is as follows : — "A small species, with a short tail 

 and wings about the same length with it. The prevailing colour is white, tinged on the back, bead, and wing- 

 coverts with light reddish brown, and mixed with a few dark spots ; a blackish crescent extends from eije to eye, 

 round the back of the hind; wing-feathers lead-grey, the first one nearly black; lower parts more white ; tail of 

 the same colour as the back" (Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 329, 1822). Nowin our bird, when immature, nearly all 

 the primaries are black, and, further, there is no such crescent from eye to eye. It is probable, as Mr. Hume 

 suggests, when he proposed his title in honour' of Mr. Saunders, that Baffles was dealing with the Black-naped 

 Tern, S. melanauchen. I would add that Indian specimens of >S. saundersi are clearly the same as Ceylonese, as 

 there could not well be two species of dark-rumped Little Terns in these regions. 

 The specimen above described is not perhaps in perfect breeding-plumage, and the organs were but little developed. 

 It appears, from data given by Mr. Hume concerning a specimen taken at Kurrachee off the eggs, that the bill is 

 yellow, broadly tipped with dusky ; and this was what my specimen was turning to. The dimensions of this 

 Kurrachee bird are : — length 9 - 12 inches ; wing 6-43 ; tail 3-0 ; tarsus 0-0 ; bill at front 1-12, from gape 1/5. 

 S. minuta, Linn., the European representative of this species, is found in India, as I have seen specimens collected at 

 Futtehgurh not to be separated from Spanish birds, though the upper tail-coverts were scarcely so white. It differs 

 from the present species in having a stouter bill, the black of the crown not generally coming so far forward in a 

 point upon the forehead, in the first two quills and the first two primary-covert feathers being black, with black 

 shafts, the remaining feathers being grey; and finally in the upper tail-coverts and tail bii.ni/ white : wing - 5 to 

 7'0 inches, bill at front 1*1 to 1*2. Indian specimens incline towards a greyer rump than European ; but the 

 quills are coloured in the same manner, and the character in question is a slight local variation only. 

 In specimens from hot climates (one from Tonghoo and another from Abyssinia are before me) the centre of the shaft 

 of the first quill becomes blenched from the effect of sun and salt-water, and the bird looks at first like the last 

 6pecies ; but the second quill-shaft is always jet-black, which is a characteristic of true minuta. This peculiar 

 feature seems to me to have caused erroneous theories as to this latter bird not being found in India, and I 

 imagine is one of the characteristics of Mr. Hume's <S'. gouldi, combined with the trifling greyish tint of the upper 

 tail-coverts before mentioned. I have, however, never found an example in Ceylon with two black-shafted black- 

 webbed quills and pale rump ; and I therefore do not admit the species into our lists. Mr. Saunders recognizes 

 a form intermediate between the Grey-rumped and the AVhite-rumped Ternlets (S. minuta), which is found on 

 the coasts of America, and to which he applies Lesson's title, S. antillarum. It has the bill more slender than the 

 White-rumped, but not so attenuated as the Grey-rumped Ternlet, and the rump and upper tail-coverts are pearl- 

 grey, like the mantlet. It appears to me, after examining his specimens, to be scarcely separable from the former 

 species. 



Distribution. — This Ternlet is not so abundant in Ceylon as the last species ; but it is widely distributed, 

 being found even on the west coast in the north-east monsoon. It may often be seen on the Colombo Lake from 

 November till March ; and it is likewise met with on the Negombo, Bolgodde, and Amblangoda lakes. On the 

 south-east coast it occurs in tolerable numbers, but not so plentifully as the White-shafted Ternlet, although 

 in the breeding-season apparently a fair percentage of all the Ternlets I saw there belonged to it. I have met 

 with it at Batticaloa, and further north, in the Trincomalie district, it is as common as it is at Hambantota. 

 In the Jaffna peninsula it seems to be almost as numerous as the white-shafted species, as most examples I 

 shot on the Jaffna Lake in March belonged to it ; they were beginning then, in some instances, to acquire 

 the black summer cap. It is found on the coasts of India and Tenasscrim, and is common in the Laccadives ; 

 but I see no record of its occurrence at the Audamans. It has been obtaiued at the mouth of the Laynah 

 creek, south of Mergui, and is believed by Mr. Davison to inhabit the Mergui archipelago. Mr. Hume has 

 recorded it from Madras, and also from the Sutlcj river, where it apparently breeds, as the specimen in question 

 is said to be a nestling. It is common at Kurrachee and breeds there. Beyond the confines of India to the 

 westward its distribution is but little known. Mr. Saunders has seen a specimen from Zoulla (Red Sea) 

 which he identifies with this species; and likewise has an example in his owu collection from Fantee, west 

 toast of Africa. 



Habits. — This Ternlet much resembles the last species in its habits. Its flight is quite as swift, and it 

 has the same fashion of hovering over the water with bill pointed downwards, and then plunging perpeudi- 



