676 STEENA F0R8TEEI, FORSTEK's TKEN, 



tijat of tho gonys Btraight and iiH(;cndin(; ; tlio KiiP'- followu nearly tlio i^iiivc. ol tho 

 culineu. In shape tlic bill, in fact, alinoHt reinalh y'(;c«/ni, and avcragiiH tliu Hainn in 

 length. The tip is broadly Htraw-yellow ; at the liaw! it uppiiuH to have bcten liriKhl. 

 colored (probably reddish); a broad band of black iiiterveneH. The whole head w Jiiire 

 white, including all. the parts about the Ijase of the bill ; this dei-,penH insenHibly into 

 the pearly color all around. 'J'here is a narrow distinct bar of slaty-black on the side 

 of the head, passing through the eye from a point just in advance of tho auriciilars, 

 where the fa.Hcia widens and bends down a little,. All the rest of the, phiitiugo, lielow 

 as well as above, is of a uniform lustrous pale pearly, with tho following exce,|)tions : 

 The under surfaces of the wings are jmre white; thi! tail, with its coverts and the 

 rumj), are white, but still with an appieeiablo pearly tini, ; the tips, and iiarl of the 

 inner vanes of the secondaries and tertials, are white ; the priuiaries have tho picture 

 common to most Terns, wilh a white space on the inm;!- wclis; their darker portions 

 are beautifully silvered over with hoary gray, which makes then] iippeai paler than 

 usual; the shafts are white above and below, except at the extreme tips; the hict 

 appear to have been reddish or yellowish, certainly of some bright color. 



bimmsions.—V/ini^, l():Z^>; tail, G.fjO; depth of the foik, ;i.7.'. ; bill, along ciilmen, \SiO; 

 its depth at base, 0.:JH ; length if gonys, 1.75; tarsus, 0.!»0 ; njiddle toe and claw, 1.0.'<. 



A specimen belonging to J. I'. Girand, i-sq., beiievcd to be Ihe original of Anilubon'it 

 plate and description, agrees minutely with tho (me frorrj which tlnv for<!going deserip- 

 tiou was taken from Buenos Ayres (No. iWtW, MuH. Hmiths.). In my a,bove-(| noted 

 article 1 discussed the relationships of Auduljon's tyjie to 8. fwHlnri, rather elaboralely, 

 but not very satisfactorily, in as far as considering it as possibly that species is concerned. 

 I was deceived by the great similarity in its size and proportions to Jhrnl.(ri, and was 

 under the wrong imijression that it might gain a black cap. It is clear to me that 

 triidmid is pcifectly distinct from all other North AujiM-ican species, and that it never 

 gains a black cap; it is, in fact, one of the most remarkablo of all the Terns. I am 

 under the impression that irudeaui is not its first name, believing it to be one of Vieil- 

 lot's species ; but I cannot now make a di:ti:rn]ination. 



The species requires comparison with no other, its coloration being peculiar if not 

 unique. In addition to the two specimens above referred to, 1 have, if my mcjmory be 

 not at fault, seen another in the La I'resnaye collection, now in liostou, labidiid with a 

 Vieillotian name. 



I'he only question is regarding the projiriety of introducing the sjiecies among Nrirth 

 American birds. I'or myself, I doubt that it was ever actually taken within our limits; 

 but I have no means of disjiroving one author's positive a«Bertion to tluit etieot. 



STEEXA FOJtHTEIil, Nutt. 



Forster's Tern. 



Sterna hirtmdo, 8w. & Rich., F. B. A. ii, ^''i■',l, 412; not of authors, 



aterna fornteri, Xt;TT., Man. ii, 18:14, 274 (foot note ; based on 8. hininihi, Sw. & RiCJi.), — 

 Lawj!., Ann. Lye. N. Y. v, 185^, 22Ji.— Jii-., Coraiit. Kerid. IKii), 772.— Lawk., B. 

 N. A. 1828, 802.— C'o(jj:,s, \'v. Phila. Acad. 1862, 544.— lOi.i.ioi, B. N. A. Int/od. 

 (figure of tailj.— Coi K8, Ibis, 1864, :i90 ('f;oateniala;.— Sai,v., Ibis, 18<)(), \W 

 (the same).- ];i„iH., J. f. 0. 18(;fi, 74, 78.— Lawk., Ann. Lye. N. V. viii, IcWl, 2!)y 

 (l^im^ Island). — Cocks, I'r. Phila. Acad. 18W), 'J'J CAiJzona). — Coi.km, )'r. Ivis. 

 Inst. V, 18G8, aO'! (New Ivngland).— Sc;,. & Bai.v., P. Z. ,S. 1871, 'ifi'.t (Tiuatfjmala 

 and Brazil).— Coi;j,s, Pr. Pbila. Aca<l. 1871, 44 (.North Carolina;.— fJoc/.H, Kev, 

 1872, 321.— 8.VOW, B. Kaus. 187:'., 12.— iiii.GW,, A. Lye. N. Y. x, 1874, D'Jl f Illinois). 



Sterna laxvlli, Ai;d., Orn. Biog. v, 18:39, 122, pi. 4f/J, f. 1 ; Syn. 18:):i, :)18 ; Ii. Am. viii, 

 1844, lO:;, pi. 4:i) (young or winter pbimage). — LaWU., B. N. Am. 1858, ik'A.— 

 CoUK.s, I'r. Phila. Aca/I. 18(i2, .54:} (refers it to forxli;ri,). 



Gelochelidon futi-idl.i, Bi-., Comptes Kendus, l8.5(i, 772. 



DiAG. S. Skrria: Idnuidiiti. nimiliH, nedmajor, ciiudd longiim, ma(/iiifi/rfi.t:aUt, alia hrmorihuH, 

 ronlro robuKtiore, lamiH hiifijiori-han, iimjutdo inttrno rcclri'M iixIcruiriH <jrlw.(), cMirnn alho, 

 gantraso albido. 



//ah. — North America at large. Middle America. South America to Brazil. Only 

 known to breed in the liigher latitudes. 



Adult, spring x/lumaye. — Bill orange-yellow, black for nearly its terminal half, the 

 extreme point.ii of both matubhles yellowish ; robast, deep at the ba<Mj ; colmen mark- 

 edly declinato-convex, eminence at symphysis well developml ; in total Ujngth from 

 iV to -('.j oi an inch longer than that of S. Urundti. The black pilenm does not extend 

 go far down on the side^ of the head as it does in h.irundo, barely eii/lira<;ing the eye 

 (the lower lid of which ut white), and leaving a congiderably wider white sjiace between 



