STBENA. 189 



blurred at the margin, where they turn to reddish brown. They 

 are of every possible size and shape, varying from specks to large 

 blotches, smears and clouds. A. characteristic of the eggs of this 

 Tern are the hieroglyphic-like lines and scrawl* which are found on 

 a majority of the specimens. As in the case of the eggs of other 

 Terns, some are very sparingly marked and a few are quite un- 

 marked. They measure from 2-3 to 2-71 in length, and from 1"6 

 to 1"8 in breadth. 



4. Suakin Reefs, Red Sea, June to Capt. A. Carpenter [P.]. 



Aug. 



19. Astola Island, Gulf of Oman, June Hume Coll. 

 (Capt. Wise). 



121. Astola Island [June] (Ca;ji. ^ise). Hume Coll. 



15. Astola Island (S. A. Butler). Saunders Coll. 



72. Astola Island, 27tli May (^.^.5.). Hume Coll. 



183. Astola Island (H. A. £.). Hume Coll. 



8. Bramble Cay, Australia {J. Mac- Voy. H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake.' 

 ffillivray). 



5. Torres Straits, Dec. {J. Mac- Gould Coll. 



gillivray). 



2. N.W. Australia. Earl of Derby [P.]. 



■2. Lizard Island, 12th May. Gould Coll. 



1. Port Essington. Gould Coll. 



2. Australia. Gould Coll. 



4. New Caledonia (J. MacgilKvray). Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Sterna frontalis, Gray. 

 (Plate XIV. fig. 6.) 



Sterna melanorhyncha, Gould, Handb. Birds Austr. ii. p. 398 (1865) ; 

 Campbell, Nests ^ Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 66 (1883). 



Sterna frontalis, Buller, Birds New Zeal. 2nd ed. ii. p. 68 (1888) ; North, 

 Nests ^ Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 403 (1889) ; Saunders, Cat. Birds 

 B. M. XXV. p. 97 (1896) ; Sharpe, Sand-l. i. p. 136 (1899). 



The eggs of the White-fronted Tern in the Collection are of a 

 regular oval form and of an olive-buff colour of different shades, 

 speckled and blotched with dark umber-brown and underlying pale 

 purple. The markings are small and distinct and are equally 

 spread over the whole shell. Pive specimens measure respectively : 

 1-8 by 1-27 ; 1-87 by 1-3 ; 2 by 1-44 ; 1-73 by 1-25 ; 1-76 by 1-26. 



3. New Zealand. Dr. Lyall [P.]. 



2. Bird and Piper's Islands* N.E. Voy. H.M.S. ' Rattlesnake.' 

 Australia (/. Macgillivray). 



Sterna aleutica, Baird. 



(Plate XIV. fig. 9.) 



Sterna aleuticfj, Baird, Brewer <§• Bidgw. Water Birds N. Am. ii. p. 307 

 (1884) ; Nelson, Beport Nat. Hist. Alaska, p. 59 (1887) ; Saunders, 

 Cat. Birds B. M. xxv. p. 98 (1896) ; Sharpe, Hand-l. i. p. 136 

 (1899). 



* This species is not included in the list of birds given by Macgillivray in 

 the Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. ' Eattlesnake.' 



