STEENA. 407 



the West Indies. It occurs in winter on both coasts of Mexico and Guatemala, and 

 Nelson believes that the species may breed in very limited numbers on the Tres Marias 

 Islands ^^ We found it abundant in Guatemala, and Salvin procured specimens at 

 Belize and on Glover's Reef off the coast of British Honduras ^s. 



S. maxima is often to be seen fishing in flocks, and breeds in colonies, the nest 

 being a mere depression in the sand. The eggs are one or two in number, of a broad, 

 pointed, oval form, the ground-colour varying from cream to pale buff. The surface- 

 markings consist of spots and small blotches of deep chocolate- or blackish-brown, and 

 these are almost invariably blurred or smudged at the margin. The underlying 

 markings are of a pale purple colour, and are also blurred and ill-defined. The 

 markings of both kinds are equally, and not very thickly, distributed over the 

 whole shell ^^. 



6. Sterna elegans. 



Sterna elegans, Gambel, Pr. Acad. Phil. 1848, p. 129 ^ ; Baird, Brewer, & Ridgway, Water-Birds 

 N. Amer. ii. p. 287'; A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 23 '; Saunders, Cat. 

 Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. p. 84 * ; Nelson, N. Amer. Fauna, no. 14, p. 24 \ 



Thalasseus elegans, Coues, Ibis, 1864, p. 389 ° ; Salv. Ibis, 1866, p. 198'. 



Sterna galericulata (nee Licht.), Scl. & Salv. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 568 " ; Lawr, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. 

 ii. p. 317'. 



Ptil. CEStiv. praecedenti similis, sed minor, rostro longiore et graciliore ; notaeo paullo saturatiore, cauda 

 albidiore : rostro Isete aurantiaco-rubro ; pedibus nigris. Long, tota circa 16-0, alee 12-2, caudse 3-4, 

 rectrice extima 5-8, culm. 2-65, tarsi 1-15. (Descr. maris adulti ex San Mateo. Mus. nostr.) 



Ptil. Mem. ptilosi sestivse similis, sed fronte alba distinguenda. Long, tota 15-5, alse 11"25. (Descr. maris 

 hiem. ex Corpus Christi. Mus. nostr.) 



Juv. ptilosi hiemali similis, sed rostro nigricante. 



Hab. North Ambeica, Pacific coast of Southern California, once on Atlantic coast at 

 Corpus Christi, Texas ^. — Mexico, Guaymas, west of Sonora (Stone ^), Mazatlan 

 ( Gambel ^ ^), Isabella I. (Grayson ^), Gulf of Tehuantepec, San Mateo (Sumichrast ^); 

 Salvador, La Union (Dow ^ ^) ; Honduras, Bay of Fonseca (Bow ' ). — South 

 America, western coast to Chile ^. 



This species is smaller than S. maxima, but has a longer and more slender bill ; the 

 wing does not exceed thirteen inches in length. The black colour of the lores, according 

 to Mr. Howard Saunders^, runs completely into the posterior portion of the nostrils, 

 and the mantle is a shade darker than in S. maxima, and the tail is rather more 

 conspicuously white, otherwise the plumages of the two species are similar. 



iS. elegans is an occasional visitant to the coast of California, and a specimen from 

 Corpus Christi, Texas, obtained by Mr. F. B. Armstrong in July, is in our collection. 

 It has been found nesting in Sonora, and occurs in winter along the western coast of 

 Central America. Grayson noticed it on Isabella Island, off the coast of San Bias, 

 and states that it was common at Mazatlan through the winter months, until the 



