8TEENA.— ANOTJS. 411 



concoloribus, primariis et secundariis extemis intus albis, tectricibus primariorum efc remigibus duobus 

 extimis plerumque nigris, his extus et juxta rhachidem nigram late dimidiatim nigris ; rectricibus dorso 

 concoloribus, rectrice extima alba, apicem versus medialiter cinerascente ; facie laterali et corpora subtus 

 toto albis : rostro aurantiaoo ad apioem nigro ; pedibus aurantiacis. Long, tota circa 8'8, alae 6'8, 

 oaudsB 1'65, rectrice extima 3"5, culm. 1-1, tarsi 0-55. (Descr. maris adulti ex San Bias. Mus. nostr.) 

 Av. hornot. eimilis adultis, sed pUeo albo vix cinereo lavato, regione aiiteoculari usque ad nucbam nigricante, 

 pilei postice cincturam formante ; tectricibus minimis nigricantibus, fasciam alarem exhibentibus : rostro 

 nigricante ; pedibus brunnescentibus. (Descr. maris bornot. ex San Bias. Mus. nostr.) 



Hub. Temperate North America, casually to Labrador, breeding nearly throughout its 

 range ^ i". — Mexico, Matamoros (Dresser ^^), Manzanillo, Colima (Xantus ^^), San 

 Bias, Tepic {Richardson ^^), Gulf of Tehuantepec, San Mateo (Sumichrast ^) ; 

 British Honduras, Long Cay^io, Grassy Cay 3, Glover's Reef^^o (0. S.); Guate- 

 mala, Pacific coast*, Coban^ (0. S.). — South America, coast of Venezuela ^O; 

 West Indies i^. — West Africa i". 



The Little Tern of North America differs from its European representative, iS*. minuta, 

 in having the rump grey, like the back, and not white as in the Old- World species. 

 It also has the bill tipped vpith black, and this character distinguishes the bird from 

 S. svperciliaris of Amazonia, which has a stout and entirely yellow bill. 



S. antillarum breeds throughout its range along the Atlantic coast of North 

 America from the Bay of Fundy southwards to Texas, as well as in Cuba, and on the 

 islands of the Bay of British Honduras, where Salvin found numbers of nests in May. 

 The species was likewise met with in Western Mexico by Sumichrast and Xantus, 

 and Salvin also noticed it on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. 



It is a shore-loving species, seldom ascending the larger rivers. Its nest consists of 

 a mere depression in the sand. The eggs are similar to those of the Little Tern of 

 Europe, being of a pale cream-colour, drab, or buff, rather thickly marked with spots 

 and blotches of different shades of brown ". 



ANGUS. 



JwoM»,Steph.in Shaw's Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 1, p. 139 (1826) ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxv. 

 p. 136 (1896). 



In Anous the tail is graduated, the feathers being pointed, with the outer pair 

 shorter than the next pair ; the middle toe and claw shorter than the exposed eulmen. 

 The bill is strong and decurved, the distance from the angle of the genys to the tip less 

 than that to the gape. The fourth pair of rectrices from the outside the longest. 



The members of the present genus are all birds of a sombre colour. They 

 inhabit the islands of the tropical and juxta-tropical seas, and breed in great commu- 

 nities, making their nest on the ground or on a bush or tree, or even a ledge of rock, 



and laying but one egg. 



The Common Noddy {A. stolidus) has a very wide range, occurring in both 

 hemispheres. Mr. Howard Saunders recognizes, with hesitation, a second species. 



52 



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