438 



STEENID^ STEENA 



Length about 160; wing 11'5; tail 5-75; depth of the fork 225 ; 

 culmea 245 ; tarsus 1-05. 



The sexes are alike : in the breeding plumage the forehead and 

 crown are black and the nape- crest more marked, while the lower 

 surface has an evanescent pink tinge somewhat less pronounced 

 than in S. dougalli. 



In the young bird the forehead is ash-brown, the crown dull- 

 white, thickly streaked with brownish-black, the upper parts 

 mottled and variegated with black and white and the bill horn 

 coloured. 



Distribution. — The Sandwich Tern is found along the eastern 

 coasts of the Atlantic from the Orkneys to Cape Colony and Natal, 

 including the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas. On the 

 west side of the Atlantic it ranges only from New England to the 

 Carribean Sea, crossing to the Pacific in Guatemala. It is also 

 found in the Eed and Arabian Seas. 



On the South African coasts it is far from uncommon, but is 

 only a migrant from the winter of the northern hemisphere, and, 

 as a rule, in non-breeding plumage. The following are recorded 

 localities : Walvisch Bay October (Anderssoa), Table Bay, February 

 (Shelley), December, March and May (S. A. Mus.), Algoa Bay 

 (Brown), Port Alfred, December, (Albany Mus.); Natal— Durban, 

 January (Bt. Mus.). 



Habits. — Little has been recorded about the Sandwich Tern 

 ia South African waters. Andersson found it common at Walvisch 

 Bay, where he states it often associates, in large flocks with other 

 Terns. It has a short, harsh cry, generally heard when fishing. 

 Hitherto it has not been known to breed within our limits, and 

 as most of the examples met with are in non-breeding plumage, 

 it seems probable that it is only here as a migrant from the 

 northern hemisphere. 



762. Sterna media. Smaller Crested Tern. 



Sterna media, HorsfieU, Tr. Linn. Soe. xiii, p. 198 (1820) ; Saunders, 

 Cat. B. M. XXV, p. 86 (1896) ; Beichenow, Vog. Afr. i, p. 60 (1900). 



Description. ^cZttZ^.— Eesembling S. cantiaca but with a darker 

 grey mantle, and rump and tail of much the same colour. 



Bill waxy yellow, tarsi and toes black, soles pale yellow. 

 Length 17-0; wing 12-0 • tail 6-75; depth of fork 3-0; culmen 

 2'4 ; tarsus 1-0. 



