8 BIRDS OF THE HAWAIIAN GROUP. 



witli white flecked through the black of lores and crown. Young:^ Brownish black 

 above, darkest on the upper wing coverts ; outer tail feathers almost as sooty black as 

 middle ones, except towards their tips. Half-fiedged birds: Feathers of the mantle 

 are blackish with broad white tips. Length 15.00-17.00, wings 11. 75-12.00, tail 7.00- 

 7.50 (forked for more than 3.00), tarsus .95-1.00, toe .99-1.05, culmen i. 80-1. 85, depth 

 of bill .45-.48, gonys .85. Hab. Tropical and juxta-tropical seas. Hawaiian Islands. 

 PI. XVI., 9153, 9155. 5. S. faligino'sa Gmei.. Sooty Tern, 



bb. Back, rump, tail coverts, wing coverts, outer edge of secondaries and 

 tail feathers, except the outer pair, dark sooty grey; crown, lores and nape black; 

 primaries chiefly smoky grey with the white wedges on the inner webs; wings never 

 less than 10.00 ; under parts and forehead, white ; white superciliary stripe extending 

 back over the eye. Winter adult: Similar to the above, but showing more white in 

 the forehead. Young: Mantle with more brownish tinge of grey ; head mottled black 

 and white; wing 10.75, culmen 1.60, tarsus .85, toe 1.15. Hab. Central Pacific Ocean. 



Laysan, etc. 



6. S. luna'ta (Peale). Grey-backed Tern. 



aa. Crown alwa5'S white, sometimes with a brownish tinge; nape, orbit and 

 ear coverts black; mantle pale grey; in front of the eye a black triangular patch, the 

 point of which does not reach to the base of the bill ; from the eyes, a black band ex- 

 tending about the back of the head ; band broadened and more or less prolonged down 

 the back of the neck ; neck and under parts white ; mantle and rump pearl grey ; shafts 

 of the primaries white ; outer primary with the outer web blackish, streak next the 

 shaft on the inner web blackish or greyish black. Winter adult:^ Similar, with less 

 black about the head. Immature: Similar to the above, but there is a brownish tinge 

 to the back of the nape, the wing coverts are ash-grey, and a dark line runs along 

 the carpal joint (Saunders). Young: Forehead and crown bufl&sh white with a black 

 streak which becomes confluent on the nape; feathers of the mantle and tail grey, 

 barred with ash -brown and tipped with buff. Length about 13.25-13.50, wing 

 9.50-10.00, tail 3.90-4.40, bill 1. 25-1. 40, tarsus .75-80, toe .95-1.00. Hab. Southern 

 and Western Pacific Ocean, north through Polynesia generally, the Philippine Islands 

 and China. Its range appears to depend in a great measure upon the existence of 

 coral islands of a certain size, and is probably still more extensive (Saunders). Kauai; 



accidental. 



7. S. melanau'chen Temm. 



5 A September bird from Laysan Island has the head and neck dark sooty brown ; lighter sooty brown below, extending back to the 

 abdomen and over the flanks : belly white ; tail uniform blackish brown, both inner and outer webs tipped with dirty white ; upper tail 

 coverts, rump, and greater wing coverts uniform with the tail; lesser wing coverts darker, edged with fulvous or whitish ; edge of wing 

 white, under wing coverts stone-grey. I,ength about 14.75, wing 10.25, tail 5.25, tarsus .90, toe 1.05, bill 1.25, gonys .45, depth of bill .35. As 

 may be seen by the above the bill pattern is totally different from &Au\ifuli£inosa as well as some slight variation in all of the other measure- 

 ments. It w^as with difficulty that the specimen was made OMtfifliffmosa. 



6 The two specimens in the Museum were taken at Mana. Kauai, by Mr. A. F. Judd during the winter of 1S92-3. Both have the white 

 foreheads a.ssumed by this species, while the remainder of the plumage is badly worn. This seems to be the first record of this species 

 being taken in the Hawaiian Islands. The above measurements are taken from these specimens. The 5". hergii of Dole has never been 

 noted from Hawaii since his early reference to it, Proc. Bost. Soc. Nai. Hist., 1869, p. 306. Bergii is, in general appearnnge, somewhat similar 

 to melanauchen, though the former is much the larger (length .20-. 21, wing 14.25, bill 2.05). 



[264] ' ■ 



