1042 



STERNA AN^ESTHETA. 



recently procured it, and extends northward to Japan, where it is apparently a rare straggler. It has boon 

 found on the Pacific coasts of America ; and there is a specimen in the Norwich Museum from the Aleutians, 

 alluded to by Von Heuglin. 



Habits. — The Brown-winged Tern is purely an oceanic species, and is a bird of buoyant and rapid, though 

 not very powerful, flight; for it is invariably driven from its maritime haunts to the shore in high winds 

 aud is often in such an exhausted state that it may be taken by hand from the rigging of vessels from the 

 gunwales of boats, and from any prominent object on piers and wharves, where it will alight, seemingly quite 

 regardless of its natural enemy, man. I have taken it myself from the awning of a steamer in the Colombo 

 Roads, and have seen it captured while sitting on the gunwale of a canoe in the harbour. Mr. Hume testifies 

 to its being frequently thus taken on ships in Indian waters ; and probably, as is the case in Cevlon the 

 specimens thus procured are immature. When caught their stomachs are often quite empty. While takin«- its 

 food or capturing small fish, such as sardines &c, it flies along the water, almost touching the surface and 

 darts down its bill as it proceeds ; at times it hovers over a fish, and, descending rapidly to the water, takes it up 

 as described, but does not pounce on it. On stormy nights great numbers are attracted by the lights of maritime 

 towns, and pass many hours in wheeling round and round in the air, uttering their far-sounding notes. These 

 sounds I heard at Galle, Trincomalie, and Colombo for several years before I identified the bird, as while on 

 the wing by day it is silent; btit one evening, on the new breakwater at Colombo, I was attracted by the familiar 

 and unidentified note, and found a young bird sitting on a balk of timber screaming lustily, perhaps to its 

 fellows who were flying about in the harbour. This note may be syllabized by ker kree, tree tree which when 

 uttered by a number of birds together, has a peculiarly consonant and grating sound. It feeds much on 

 garbage and refuge thrown out of ships. Yon Heuglin writes that it avoids flat coral islands, and frequents 

 precipitous islands and cliffs ; and further notices that on moonlight nights it is about until very late. 



Ald{ficatwn.—The last-mentioned author found this species breeding on cliffs near Djedah, on the Arabian 

 coast of the Red Sea, in June. Each clutch consisted of two eggs, laid on the bare clitt', often between stones. 

 Mr. Hume found thousands of addled eggs in February on the Vingorla rocks amongst the grass, together 

 with numbers of dricd-up mummies of old and young birds, which seems to indicate that the birds which 

 evidently breed during the height of the monsoon in June, must have been driven away from their stronghold 

 by boisterous winds, leaving their offspring and eggs to the mercy of the weather. Eggs of this species from 

 the Red Sea, in the collection of Mr. Howard Saunders, are pale reddish grey, pinkish, and greyish w r hite in 

 ground-colour, oval in shape, and marked with small spots and specks of light red, brownish red or dark red- 

 brown over blotches of light bluish and purplish grey ; one egg is marked with large blotches of pale pinkish 

 grey. Examples measure 175 by 1"28 and 1"75 by 1*17 inch. 



The accompanying woodcuts, for the use of which I am (with the consent of Mr. 

 indebted to the Zoological Society, show the difference in the feet of the last two species. 



Howard Saunders) 



Foot of Sterna fuliginosa. 



Foot of Sterna ancrstheta. 



