400 LARLDJE. 



the Old World, as well as America, where, however, it is not often noticed on the 

 Pacific coast. 



As Mr. Howard Saunders points out, the characters of the genus are somewhat 

 intermediate between those of the Gulls and Terns, and this remark also applies 

 to the eggs. 



1. Gelochelidon anglica. 



Sterna anglica, Mont. Orn. Diet. Suppl. cum iig. *; Baird, Brewer, & Ridgway, Water-Birds 



N.Amer. ii. p. 277=. 

 Gelochelidon anglica, Coues, Ibis, 1864, p. 389 ' ; Salv. Ibis, 1865, p. 190 *j 1866, p. 199 ' ; Sol. & 



Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 572 ° ; Lawr. BuU. U. S. Nat. Mus. no. 4, p. 51^ Sumichr. La Nat. 



V. p. 234 " ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 25 ' ; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. 



i. p. 177 ". 

 Stei'na aranea, Dresser, Ibis, 1866, p. 44 ^^. 

 Gelochelidon nilotica, A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 22 ". 



Ptil. aestiv. Supra pulchre margaritacea, secundariis intimis et rectricibus albicantioribus ; primariis intiis 

 cineraceis, rbachidibus albis ; pileo toto nigerrimo ; loris et facie laterall et corpore subtns toto albis ; 

 subalaribus et axillaribus albis, majoribus et remigibus intus margaritaceo-albis : rostro nigro ; pedibos 

 brannesoenfci-nigris ; iride saturate bmnnea. Long, tota circa 13-0, alse 11-8,- caudae 4-7, culm. 1-7, 

 tarsi 1*15. (Descr. maris adulti ex Corpus Christi, Texas. Mus. nostr.) 



Ptil. hiem. Supra margaritacea, pileo vix albicantiore ; macula anteoculari parva nigra ; regione parotica 

 siunma schistacea ; corpore subtus toto pure albo. Long, tota circa 12-0, alae 10-7. (Descr. avis adultae 

 ex Chiapam. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. NoETH Ameeica, chiefly on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, 

 breeding north to New Jersey, and wandering casually to Long Island and 

 Massachusetts^^. — Mexico, Matamoros (Dresser ^^^), coast of Gulf of Tehuan- 

 tepec 8, San Mateo ^ (Sumichrast) ; Guatemala, Pacific coast, Chiapam Lagoon 

 [0. /S. 234 5 9) — Atlantic coast of South Ameeica to Argentina 9. — Tempeeate 

 AND WAEM EEGiONS OP THE Old Woeld to Australia (breeding), extending in Africa 

 as far as Fashoda. 



This is a bird of very wide distribution, frequenting the sandy shores of the sea- 

 coasts and inland lakes, and breeding throughout the greater part of its habitat. 



The Gull-billed Tern has been recorded by WUson and Audubon as breeding in the 

 salt-marshes of Cape May and at the mouth of the Mississippi, and it is also known to 

 breed as far north as southern New Jersey; but it has not been found nesting in 

 any part of Central America, though eggs have been taken by Gundlach in Cuba 2. 

 Mr. Dresser met with the species breeding on Galveston Island in June ^^. 



In Mexico it was noticed by Sumichrast in the Gulf of Tehuantepec ' ^, and Salvin 

 found it frequenting the lagoon of Chiapam, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala where 

 however, it did not congregate in any numbers, two or three only being observed 

 in company*. 



The nest is a mere depression scratched in the sand, with sometimes a few straws 



