648 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNINJE. [June 20, 



Sterna hirundo, Max. v. W. Beitr. iv. p. 865 (1833). 



Sterna antarctica, Peale (nee Lesson, nee Wagler, nee Forst.), 

 U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 280 (1848) ; Ph. & Landbeck, Cat. Av. Chi- 

 lenas, p. 49. 



Sterna meridionalis, Cassin (nee Brehm), U.S. Expl. Exp. 

 p. 385 (1858) ; Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. Sterna, p. 15 (1863). 



Sterna wilsoni, Burm. Syst. Ueb. iii. p. 451. 



Sterna cassinii, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1860, p. 391 ; Abbott, Ibis, 1861, 

 p. 166 ; v. Pelzeln, Novara-Reise, Vog. p. 153 (1865) ; Scl. & Salv. 

 P. Z. S. 1871, p. 570; Gray, Hand-1. iii. p. 118 (1871). 



"Sterna meridionalis, Peale," Blasius, J. f. Orn. 1866, p. 74 

 (nee Peale). 



The range of this species, as defined by Messrs. Sclater and 

 Salvin, is from Rio de Janeiro southwards to the Falkland Islands, 

 and up the west coast of Chili as far north as Valdivia. Since then 

 I have received specimens from Colchagua, in about 35° S. lat. ; and 

 it may naturally be looked for even further north. It is the largest 

 and the lightest in colour of the medium-sized Sea-Terns ; and the 

 entire bill (which is long and powerful) is bright red in the adult. 



It is with regret that I do not adopt Mr. Sclater's name S. cassinii ; 

 but the examination of the type of S. hirundinacea shows that it is 

 undoubtedly this species. 



Sterna albigena, Reich. 



Sterna albigena, Licht. Nomenclator, 1854 (descr. nulla) ; Reich. 

 Scbwimmvog. Suppl. xi. pi. xxi. fig. 816. 



Hydrochelidon albigena, Bonap. Compt. Rend. 1856, ii. p. 773. 



"Sterna senegalensis, Sw.," Heugl. Ibis, 1859, p. 351 ; Konig- 

 Warth. Ibis, 1860, pp. 125, 432. 



Sterna albigena, Heugl. Faun. Roth. Meeres, no. 307, p. 32 

 (descr.) ; Schlegel. Mus. P.-B. Sterna, p. 20 (1863) ; Blasius, Journ. 

 f. Ornith. 1866, p. 75; Finsch & Hartl. Vog. Ost-Afr. iv. p. 834, 

 tab. x. fig. 2 (1870). 



Pelodes albigena, Gray, Hand-list, iii. p. 122 (1871). 



In order to show the connexion between the three preceding 

 species, it was necessary to pass over the present, which is a local 

 and smoke-coloured form of typical Sterna, having no real affinity 

 with Hydrochelidon. The tail is long and pointed, the bill narrow 

 and straight; the feet are amply webbed ; and it is, in a word, a small, 

 slender, Common Tern, of a general smoky hue, the rump and tail 

 being as dark as the mantle. I cannot understand how Finsch and 

 Hartlaub fail to identify Reichenbach's figure in the ' Schwiinmvogel ' 

 with this species ; for his illustration, though coarse, is decidedly 

 far more recognizable than theirs in the ' Vog. Ost-Afrika's.' It is a 

 very distinct form, which appears to have its head quarters in the 

 Red Sea, south of the tropic of Cancer ; and an interesting account 

 of its breeding in the Dahalak archipelago is to be found in ' The Ibis,' 

 1861, p. 125. The eggs, two in number, are laid in July and 

 August, on the flat coral reef, close to the beach, and resemble those 

 of typical Sterna. Whilst writing this, Lord Walden has sent me 

 [12] 



