128 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



over a piece of flooded land, in the year, if I remember 

 rightly, when so many villagers were drowned out on the 

 Pootung side. I was after snipe at the time, and gave up 

 that chase to watch the evolutions of these true swallows 

 of the sea. One was brought home for the Museum. They 

 showed little or no sign of fear, doubtless for the reason 

 that they are so seldom interfered with. Who on ordinary 

 occasions would shoot swallows whether on sea or land? 



Of the marsh \ariety of terns David mentions two 

 species as well known in the east. One of these HalipJana 

 AiiaestJieta, the eastern representative of S. Antarctica, and 

 the other H. fiiligiiiosa. the sooty tern, so called from the 

 dark colour of its plumage which, with the exception of the 

 white splash over the eye, is from the crown of the head to 

 the tip of the tail a dull sootj' black on back and wings. The 

 under parts are as pure a white as that of the common tern, 

 andlookevenwhiterincontrast against thesombre tints above. 

 Feet, legs, and bill are all of the sooty tinge. These are 

 true sea birds, and may be met with hundreds of miles from 

 any shore. Naturally their diet is more exclusively fishy 

 than that of the others. 



Far more striking in appearance than either of those 

 yet mentioned is the white-winged tern, Hydroclielidon 

 leiicoptera . In this the bill, feet and legs are blood red: the 

 head is all a glossy black, so is the back till the tail coverts 

 are reached; these and the tail are white. On the under 

 side the same division of colours holds, the breast and 

 abdomen being black with a tinge of green whilst the 

 ventrices are white. The wings stand out in strong contrast 

 being very lighf in colour with a grey-blue tinge shading off 

 to white. These are haunters of the land rather than of the 

 sea, and their food is more largely insectivorous. \ine to 

 ten inches is their full length. Another species allied to the 

 last is H. Iiyhrlda, the so-called whiskered tern. It has the 

 same blood-red bill and lower extremities, but there is no 

 black about it except the cap, which in this species fits down 

 right to the lower edge of the eye. For the rest both back 

 and breast are of a somewhat duller blue grey than is the 

 case with the others, the under winj^ c(n'tM-ts and ventrices 

 being white. It is a little loiif:;er than H. hybrida. Both are 

 but rare visitors to Great Britain, preferring as a rule lower 

 latitudes. 



S. Caspia is considerably larger than either of the birds 

 \et mentioned, reaching at times to a length of from twenty 

 to twenty-two inches. It differs very slightly also from the 

 rest in marking. Its bill is a bright blood red with some 

 white longitudinal markings on it. There is the black cap. 

 this time with a curve down round the eve. The feet and 



