STEENA BERGII. 



(THE LARGE CRESTED TERN.) 



Sterna bergii, Licht. Verzeich. p. 80 (1823), ex South Africa; Von Heuglin, Ora. N.Ost-Afr. 



ii. p. 1436 (1873); Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 33 ; Saunders, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 657; Hume, 



Str. Featli. 1876, p. 470, et 1878, p. 493 (B. of Tenass.), et 1879, p. 116 (List B. of 



Ind.); Butler, ibid. 1877, p. 298. 

 Sterna cristata, Steph. in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 1, p. 146 (1825); Salvadori, Uccelli di 



Born. p. 376 (1874). 

 Sterna velox, Riipp. Atlas, p. 21, pi. 13 (1826). 

 Sterna jpeJecanoides, King, Surv. Int. Austr. ii. App. Aves, p. 422 (1826) ; Legge, Ibis, 1875, 



p. 407. 

 Thalasseus pelecanoides (King), Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 23 (1848). 

 Thalasseus poliocerciis, Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 24 (1848). 

 Thalasseus cristatus (Steph.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 291(1849) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. 



Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 270 ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 481 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 842. 

 Thalasseus bergii (Licht.), David & Oust. Ois. de la Chine, p. 523 (1877). 

 The Crested Tern, The Larger Sea-Tern, The Swift Tern of some. Kadal Kuruvi, Ceylonese 



Tamils ; El Relet, Arabic (Heuglin) ; Tola in the Friendly Islands. 

 Liniya, Sinhalese. 



Note. The present species, the next in order, and one or two allied Terns form a small well-marked group, with stout 

 rather curved bill, strongly pronounced gonys, elongated nuchal feathers, and completely webbed feet, which are 

 classed by Boie as Sea-Terns (Thalasseus). 



Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 2O0 to 21 '5 inches ; wing 13'9 to 14-75 (average about 14-4) ; tail 7"0 to 

 8 - 6, fork of the tail about 4 - deep ; tarsus 1*25 to 1*35; middle toe and nail 1-3 to 1*45 ; bill to gape 3-4 to 

 3-6, at front 2-5 to 2-7. Expanse 42 to 46 inches. Females in this species are, as a whole, no smaller than males. 



Breeding-plumage. Iris dark brown ; bill murky yellow, tinged with green in parts ; roof of mouth and tongue bluish ; 

 legs and feet black, with a reddish tinge, soles yellowish. 



Forehead to within \ inch of the bill, top of the head down to a line with the lower eyelid, occiput, and a pointed crest 

 of about 1 j inch in length glossy black ; point of the forehead, lores, face, entire neck, and under surface, with 

 the under tail-coverts, under wing and its edge pure white ; back and wing-coverts dark slate-grey, paling on the 

 upper tail-coverts and tail, and blending into the white of the hind neck ; lateral tail-feathers, which are very 

 much attenuated, with most of the outer web white ; quill-shafts white ; primaries dark iron-grey, " frosted " with 

 silvery grey when first moulted, but in old feather turning to blackish brown, the inner portions white, extending 

 on the 1st along the edge to the tip, but running hi a point into the black extremities of the rest ; secondaries 

 dark grey, with their terminal margins and inner portions white. In some examples the black forehead approaches 

 to within 0-1 of the bill, but never touches it as in the next species. 



Winter plwmage. Bill greener than in summer ; legs and feet pure black. 



Forehead and lores white, as also the coronal feathers, the central portions of the latter being black, which gradually 



increases, leaving the edges and tips only of the nuchal feathers white ; a black border in front of the eye, and the 



upper cheek and ear-covert feathers striped with the same, varying according to the individual ; back and wings 



not so dark as in summer. 

 Examples shot in January in Ceylon show signs of moult in the wings and tail, so that the winter plumage is not 



complete until very late. The outer tail-feathers are not so pointed as in summer, when, however, they speedily 



become abraded after being acquired in April. 



