LARIDiE, TEUNS. GEN. 293, 294. 



323 



Gray) ; b'. panayensis of authors : Ilaliplana discolor Coues, Ibis, 1864, 

 392 ; Lawrence, Ami. Lye. N. Y. viii, 105 ; Elliot, pi. 57. anosthj':ta. 



293. Genus HYDROCHELIDON Boie. 



'>7-^ Blach, or Short-tailed Tern. Adult in breeding plumage: head, neolc 

 and under parts, uniform jet-black; back, wings and tail, plumbeous; 

 primaries unstriped ; crissum pure white ; bill black. In winter and young 

 birds, the black is mostly replaced by white on the forehead, sides of head 

 and under parts, the crown, occiput and neck behind, with the sides under 

 the wings, being dusky gray ; a dark auricular patch and another before the 

 eye ; in a very early stage, the upper parts are varied with dull brown. 

 Small; wing 8-9, little less than the whole length of the bird; tail 3 J, 

 simply forked; bill 1-1 J^ ; tarsus % ; middle toe and claw 1|-. N. Am., 

 chiefly inland, breeding in marshy places. 8. jolumhea 

 WiLS., vii, 83, pi. 60, f. 3 (young) ; //. plumbea Lawr. 

 jn Bd., 864; S. nigra Nutt., ii, 282; Aud., vii, 116, 

 pi. 438 ; H. Jissijpes Coues, I. c. 554. . . fissipes. 



294. Genus ANGUS Leach. 



^ /h Noddy Tern. Frontal feathers in convex outline on 

 the bill (the antise, shown by all the foregoing, here 

 wanting) ; webs remarkably full ; tail graduated laterally, 

 emarginate in the middle, the feathers broad aud stiiEsh. 

 fuliginous, blackening on quills and tail, with a plumbeous cast on the 

 head and neck, the crown more or less purely white ; bill black ; length 

 15-17 ; wing 10-11 ; tail 6-7 ; bill l^-lf ; tarsus 1 ; middle toe and claw 

 1|-1|. S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, breeding in vast multitudes ; the nest 

 is placed on bushes. Nutt., ii, 285; Aud., vii, 123, pi. 440; Lawr. iu 

 Bd., 865. A. stolidus •Ai\^ A.frater Co'GES,l. c. bbd,. . . . stolidus. 



Fig. 205. Foot of Black 

 Tern. 



Plumage 



Subfamily BHYNCHOPIN^. Skimmers. 



Bill hyjMgnathous. Among the singular bills of birds that frequently excite our 

 wonder, that of the skimmers is one of the most anomalous. The under mandible 

 is much longer than the upper, compressed like a knife-blade ; its end is obtuse ; 



Fig. 208. Bill of SkiniMier. 



its sides come abruptly together and are completely soldered ; the upper edge is as 

 sharp as the under, and fits a groove in the upper mandible ; the jawbone, viewed 

 apart, looks like a short-handled pitch-fork. The upper mandible is also com- 



