108 
STERNID,E. 
tials is darker; the beak is dusky black, with a livid colour 
at the base, and the legs and feet are dull coral red. 
In the winter plumage, the front of the face, neck, breast, 
and all the under parts are white ; before the eye is a crescent¬ 
shaped black mark; the top of the head, nape, and ear- 
coverts are spotted with black, owing to the centres of the 
feathers being black, bordered with pale wood brown and pale 
grey; the back and wing-coverts are deep gull-grey; the 
upper part of the back ornamented with a small portion of 
black between the shoulders; the ridge of the wing is white, 
and the smaller rows of wing-coverts spotted like the top of 
the head. The primary quills are greyish black or slate 
colour, the tips of some are soiled white ; the tertials pale 
gull-grey ; the tail and coverts as in the summer. The legs 
and feet are orange yellow; the eyes dusky brown. 
