285 



STEKNA MEDIA. 



(ALLIED TERN.) 



Sterna media, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 198 (1820). 



Sterna affinis, Cretzschm. in Riipp. Atlas, p. 23, pi. 14 (1826, nee Horsf.). 



Sterna bengalensis, Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 621 (1831). 



Thalasseus torresii, Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 140. 



Sterna arabica, Ehrenb., fide Malherbe, Faun. Orn. Sic. p. 210 (1843). 



Thalasseus mascuriensis, Licht. Nomencl. Av. p. 98 (1854). 



Thalasseus affinis (Cretzsch.), C. L. Brehm, Vogelfang, p. 345 (1855). 



Sterna velox, Hartl. Orn. Beitr. Faun. Madag. p. 86 (1861, nee Biipp.). 



Thalasseus bengalensis (Less.), Gould, Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 397 (1865). 



Actochelidon affinis (Cretzsch.), G. R. Gray, Hand-1. of B. iii. p. 119. no. 11045 (1871). 



Actochelidon maxuriensis, Ehr., G. R. Gray, torn. cit. p. 119. no. 11046 (1871). 



Actochelidon media (Horsf), G. R. Gray, torn. cit. p. 119. no. 11047 (1871). 



Figura? notabiles. 

 Riipp. I. c. ; Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 25. 



Ad. ptil. mst. pileo subcristato nigro : corpore et alis supra, cum uropygio toto, pulchre cinereis, collo postico 

 et dorso antico albis : cauda cinerea, rectrice extima utrinque fere omnino alba : remigibus in pogonio 

 externo griseo-canis, et in pogonio interno prope scapum nigricantibus, caeterum albis, scapis albis : 

 capitis lateribus, collo et corpore toto subtus albis : rostro flavo : iride fusca, : pedibus nigricantibus. 



Ad. ptil. Mem. fronte grisea, pileo albo nigro profuse guttato, nucha nigra : corpore reliquo sicut in ptilosi 

 aestivali picturato. 



Adult in summer (Alexandria). Entire crown to the base of the bill and nape deep black, the feathers on 

 the nape elongated, neck and fore part of the back white; mantle ashy grey; rump and tail pearly 

 ash-grey, the outer rectrix on each side white ; quills hoary grey on the outer web, the inner web being 

 blackish near the shaft and the tip, the rest of the inner web being white ; but the blackish part covers a 

 larger area on the inner quills than on the outer ones; chin, throat, and uuderparts white; bill greenish 

 yellow; iris brown; legs and toes black; under surface of toes flesh-colour. Total length about 13'5 inches, 

 culmen 2 - 5, wing 11*6, tail 6 - 3, outer rectrices extending 3 inches beyond the central ones, tarsus 1*05. 



Adult in winter. Differs from the adult in summer in having the forehead dull hoary grey, the crown white 

 closely spotted with black, the nape, however, being black. 



Young (Madagascar). Resembles the adult in winter; but the wing-eoverts are marked with sooty grey, the 

 blackish grey on the quills covers a larger area, and the tail is tipped with blackish grey, the outer 

 rectrices being much shorter than in the adult. 



This Tern, which is only a rare straggler to Europe proper, is found all along the north coast of 

 Africa, ranging down the Red Sea to Madagascar ; and in Asia it is found on the coasts of India, 



