18/6.] MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNINvE. 645 



Western Europe to the China seas, throughout India, Ceylon, and 

 the Malay region down to Australia, and along the east coast of 

 America as far as Patagonia ; on the Pacific side it has only been 

 observed in Guatemala (Salvin). It does not appear to have been re- 

 corded from South Africa, which is somewhat remarkable. 



Mr. G. R. Gray chose to identify this species with Hasselquist's 

 S. nilotica ; but there is nothing in his description to prove that this 

 was the bird referred to ; and in any case the name would not be 

 available, as it antedates the 12th ed. of Linnseus's ' Systema 

 Naturae.' 



Sterna seena, Sykes. 



Sterna seena, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, ii. p. 171. no. 231. 



Sterna aurantia, Gray & Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 69. fig. 2 

 (1832). 



Sterna brevirostris, Grav & Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. i. pi. 69. fig. 1. 

 juv. (1S32). 



Sterna roseata, Hodgson, Gray's Zool. Misc. p. 86 (1844). 



Seena aurantia, Blyth, Cat. BirdsMus. As. S. B. p. 291. no. 1 706 

 (1849) (type of subgenus Seena) ; Jerdon, B. India, in. p. 838 

 (1864) ; Blasius, J. I Orn. 1866, p. 73. 



Although the stout curved bill of this species is somewhat pecu- 

 liar, this seems to be hardly sufficient to warrant its elevation to the 

 rank of a subgenus. The webs of the toes are of moderate extent 

 and not much excised ; the tail is long and forked, as in typical 

 Sterna. 



This Tern breeds on the sandbanks of the Indian rivers ; and the 

 eggs are in appearance intermediate between those of S. anglica and 

 the large-billed River-Tern of South America, S. magnirostris. It 

 appears to be confined to the Indian region. 



The names seena and aurantia are contemporaneous ; but I adopt 

 the former, because it is properly described ; S. aurantia is unde- 

 scribed, and merely based upon a bad plate. 



Sterna melanogastra, Temm. 



Sterna melanogaster (sic), Temm. PI. Col. vol. v. pi. 434 (1838) ; 

 Gould, B. Asia, pt. xix. pi. (1867). 



Sterna javanica, Horsfield, in Zool. Res. (but not in Tr. Linn. 

 Soc. 1820, xiii.) ; Jerdon, B. India, iii. p. 840 (1864) ; Irby, Ibis, 

 1861, p. 247. 



Sterna acuticauda, Gray & Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. pi. 70. fig. 3 

 (1832). 



Sterna melanogastra, Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. Sternce, p. 21 (1863); 

 Schl. & Poll. Rech. Madagasc. p. 147 (1868). 



Hydrochelidon melanogastra, Bonap. 



Sternula melanogastra, Bias. J. f. Orn. 1866, p. 74. 



" Sternula minuta" et " Sternula jerdoni" Beavan, Ibis, 1868, 

 p. 403 (clearly immature birds of this species). 



Pelodes javanica, Gray, Hand-1. iii. p. 122 (1871). 



Owing to its somewhat excised webs, and perhaps to its super- 



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