STEKXA CAXTIACA, SANDWICH TEEX. 673 



STEE:s'A (THALASSEUS) CAXTIACA, Gm. 



Sandwich Tern. 



Sterna catriiaca, Gm., Svst. Nat. i. 1788, 606.— Tesm.. JIan. 1815. 479.— Stfph., Gen. Zool. 

 xiii, 14T.— JF\-., Man. 1H35, -ilio.- Eyt., Cat. Br. B. 18;!G. 54.— Kicvs. & Blas., 

 Wirb. Eur. 1840, 97.— Naum., T. D. x, 1840, 51, pi. -250.— ScHL., Eev. Crit. 1-41, 

 129 ; Mus. P.-B. Stemce, p. 5.— Gray, Geo. of B. iii, 1849, 658 ; List Br. B. 1863, 

 239.— AUD., Oru. Biog. iii. 1>3:>, ,531, pi. 279 ; Syn. 1^39, 317 : B. Am. vii, 1844, 

 87. pi. 431.— DeKay, N. Y. F. ii, ls44, 303, pi. 124, f. 274.— Tttrnb., B. E. Pa. 

 1^09. 47 (New Jersey; straggler).— ScL. & Salv., P. Z. 8. 1-71, oli9.— Allen., 

 Am. Nat. iii, 1870, &14 (Massachusetts).— Coves. Key, 1;72. 320.— P£lz., Orn. 

 Bras. 324 (Brazil). 

 Thalasseiis cantiaeus, BoiE, Isis, 1822, 563.— Bp., List, 1?38, 61.— Blas., J. f. O. It(i6, 81 



(locates nubilosa, Spakkm., here). 

 ActodieJiflon canliacui. K.irp, Sk. Ent. Enr. Thierw. 1829, 31. 



(t1 Sterna africana. Gjl, Svst. Nat. i. 1788. 605.— Lath.. Ind. Orn. ii, 1790. 805 (nneertam). 

 (?^ Sterna striata, Gm., Svst. Nat. i, 17.-8. 009.— Lath., lud. Orn. ii, 1790. -■07 (uncertain). 

 Sterna *<^v«'i. Lath., Imi. Orn. ii. 1790, 806 (=cantiaca, Gm.).— Leach, Cat. l^l(i. 41.— 

 Flem., Br. An. 182-, 142.— Nnr., Man. ii, 1834, 276.— Macgil., Man. ii, 1842, 230. 

 Sterna columhina, ScHRK. (FiffeBLAS.) 

 •■ Sterna na'ria, Bewick, Br. B. ii, 1804. 207." {Gray.) 

 Sterna stuherica, Bechst., Naturg. Deut. iv, 679. 

 Sterna caneacens, Meyek, Tasch. Deut. Tog. ii, 458. 

 Thala^eeus cant&cens et caudicans, Brehm, V. D. 1831, 776, 777. 

 Sterna acuHarida, C.vB., Pr. Best. Soc. ii, 1847, 257.— Lawr., B. N. A. 1858, 860. — BitY^., 



Pr. Bost. Soc. vii, 1859. i:i4 (Bahamas). 

 Thalasseu$ actiflaridiw, CorE.*. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1862. 540.— Coves. This, 1864. 389 (Central 

 America). — S.vLV.. Ibis. 1866, 198 (the same).— Guxdl., Eepert, 1866, 392. — 

 Lawr.. Ann. Lvc. N. Y. viii, 1866, 299 (New York) ; ix, 210 (Yucatan).- CouES, 

 Pr. Ess. Inst, t, 1868. 60 i.Nevr England).— CoiES. Pr. Bost. Soc. xii. 1868. 12& 

 (South Carolina).— CouES. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1^71, 42 (North Carolina). 

 Bfl6. — Atlantic coast of North America to Southern New Englaud. Bahamas ; Cuba ; 

 Jamaica ; ranging Into Central America (both coasts). Honduras, breeding {Salciti). 

 South into Brazil {Pehehi). 



Ad«It, breeding plumage. — Bill much longer than the head, exceeding in length the 

 tarsus, middle toe and claw together ; quite slender and attenuated for this genus, the 

 tip excessively acute. The convexity of the culmen. from tip to base, is regular, but 

 very slight. The commissure is gradually declinato-convex throughout its whole 

 length. The outline of the mandibular crura is decidedly concave ; that of the gonys 

 about straight. An eminentia symphysis is hardly appreciable. The submental or 

 intercrural space is very short and extremely narrow, the feathers only covering its 

 posterior half. Nasal groove very long, narrow, not deep, extending more than half 

 the length of the bUl, and subsiding at the tomia. Both mandibles are marked with 

 oblique longitudinal striae. The outline of the feathers on the bill is as usual in this 

 subfamily. Wings of moderate length, of ordinary shape ; the primaries quire broad 

 to within a short distance of their rounded, not very narrow nor acute, tips. The 

 formation of the tail is exactly as in regia. The feet are quite slender, moderately 

 compressed, anteriorly scutellate, laterally and posteriorly reticulate, as usual in the 

 subfamily. Webs moderately incised for this genus ; relative proportions of the tnes 

 as in other species. Claws all long, strong, arched, acute, the inner edge of the middle 

 one greatly dilated. 



Bill black; the tip for ^ to f of an inch bright yellow, sharply defined against the 

 black; "inside of mouth deep blue." Feet dull blatk. Pileum and occipital crest 

 glossy black, with a tinge of green ; the color extending just below the eyes, but leav- 

 ing a space along the side of the mandible white to the extremity of the feathers. The 

 mantle is exceedingly light pearl-blue, fading on the rump and npper tail-coverts into 

 pure white ; but the rectrices themselves have a slight shade of pearly bluish. The 

 primaries are colored ex.ictly as in regia. On the inner web of the fii-st the black space 

 is broad and deep in color : when about Ii inches from the apex of the quUl it quite 

 suddenly grows wider, so as to exclude the white jiortion fiom the tip altogether. The 

 second, third, and fourth primaries have the same general pattern, but the white runs 

 up further on the central portion thau on the edge of the web, so that toward its end 

 it receives a narrow edging of blackish. The other iiriniaries have no blackish, but 

 are simply pearl-blue, with broad white margins along the whole 1. ugth of their inner 

 ■webs. The outer primaries are all heavily silvered when the quills are new. 



Dimensions of the adult. — Length, 15 to 16 inches : extent, ; wing, from the carpus, 



12.50 ; tail, 6 ; depth of emargination, 2.35 ; bill, along culmen, 2.'25 ; along gajie, 3 ; 

 its height at base, 0.48 ; width, ditto, 0.37 ; length of rami from feathers on side of 



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