STERNA MEDIA. 1031 



with the inner webs of the two first quills marked with white, as in the adult ; terminal portions of the tail- 

 feathers brown, with the extremities whitish ; the least wing-coverts brown, forming a conspicuous band along the 

 ulna. 



Obs. Examples of S. affinis from the Eed Sea are identical with Indian birds. A specimen before me measures as 

 follows : — wing 11-4 inches ; tail 4-6 ; tarsus 1-0 ; middle toe 0-8, its claw 0-3 ; bill to gape 2-9, at front 2-1. The 

 tints of the upper surface are the same as in Cej'lonese birds. Mr. Hume gives the dimensions of a Laccadive 

 female as — length 15-0 inches; expanse 35-25 ; wing 11-3; tarsus TO ; bill from gape 2-6 : weight 8 oz. A male 

 from the Gulf of Oman — length 16-5 inches; wing 12-25; tail 6-0 ; tarsus 1-1 ; bill to gape 2-93. The North- 

 Australian bird, S. torresii, is identical with ours ; but on the coasts of New Zealand and Tasmania it is replaced by 

 another species, S. frontalis, Gray, which differs in having a black bill, like that of the Sandwich Tern, and the 

 forehead, in summer plumage, is white, as in the species last noticed : a specimen before me measures — wing 10-5 

 inches, bill to gape 2-2. The present species is allied to the American Crested Terns, &. elegans, Gambel, and 

 S. eurygnatha, Saunders, but is, according to Mr. Saunders, smaller, and has the gonys not so long, and the rump 

 and tail much darker. 



As the Sandwich Tern, S. cantiaca, 6m., has been referred to above, it may be well for me to notice it here, as it may 

 some day occur in Ceylon, being very abundant off the coast of Siudh. It may be distinguished from all other 

 Terns inhabiting this region by its long, slender, black, yellow-tipped bill. In winter the forehead and front of 

 crown are satiny white, and the occiput and nape marked as in the Large Crested Tern ; the upper surface is very 

 pale blue-grey, the primaries light silver-grey, the tail and its coverts almost white. A specimen in my collec- 

 tion measures : — wing 11-4 inches ; tail 5 - ; tarsus 1-1 ; bill to gape 2-95. The outer web is considerably 

 excised. Bill black to within 0-4 inch of the tip, which is yellow ; legs and feet black. In summer the head and 

 forehead are black down to the bill. 



Distribution. — This Tern is the most numerous species on our coasts, and is perhaps equal in point 

 of numbers with the Marsh-Tern. In the north of the island it is, together with the Gull-billed Tern, the 

 most abundant of its family. It is common on the west coast from September until May, frequenting the 

 rocks at Colombo, and fishing much in the freshwater lakes round Slave Island. It is also numerous on 

 the brackish lake at Negombo. By the middle of May it disappears from this part of the island, many birds 

 being in summer plumage and many in winter at that time. In the north-east it appears in August, and 

 by the end of October great numbers are about the coasts, more being seen in windy rainy weather near 

 the shore than when it is fine. It leaves this part also in May. During the month of March I found it very 

 numerous on the Jaffna Lake and at Mauaar, as also about Karativoe and the adjoining islets. As regards 

 the south-eastern region, the locality where Terns are most abundant, its distribution is singular, for, like the 

 Gull-billed Tern, numbers are to be seen there in non-breeding plumage throughout the summer. Examples 

 shot then, as a matter of course, showed no signs of fecundity. There appears to be no other solution of the 

 abundance of non-breeding Terns in this portion of Ceylon than in the hypothesis that they are birds bred south 

 of the Line in the opposite season to the breeding-time in India, and which come to Ceylon when the cool-season 

 birds leave to rear their young in localities north of the island. In August great numbers of this species are to 

 be seen out at the Basses, which is the great fishing-ground of the Terns on the south-east coast. 



At the Andamans it has not been observed, and it is only recorded by Mr. Davison from one locality 

 (Camorta) in the Nicobars. In Sumatra it has been procured at the south-east corner (Lampong) and also 

 in other districts by Miiller ; whilst in Java it was obtained by Horsfield, and first described by him from that 

 island. On the west side of India Mr. Hume met with it in the Laccadives, at Pere-Mull-Par and Cherbaniani. 

 On the coasts of the mainland Jerdon says it is perhaps more abundant than the last species, " especially 

 about the backwaters of Madras and the Malabar coast." Higher up the Bay on the east coast it is rarer; and 

 on the other side Blyth is the only naturalist who has recorded it from the shores of Tenasserim. It is 

 common about Bombay and on the coast of Sindh in harbours and backwaters; from the Indus to Gwader 

 it is very abundant, says Mr. Hume, being found there in vast flocks with the Sandwich Tern. Thence 

 westwards it will in all probability occur in tolerable numbers in the Persian Gulf and round the coast of 

 Arabia, where Von Heuglin says it can scarcely be called a resident, though it is common in the Gulf of Aden. 

 In the Red Sea it is resident, but confined chiefly to the southern portion, being only found occasionally on 

 the Egyptian part of the coast and on the lagoons of the delta. Captain Shelley, however, remarks that it is 



