18/6.] MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN^E. 661 



Sterna melanatjchen, Temm. 



Steima melanauchen, Temm. PI. Col. v. pi. 427 (1838?) ; Gould, 

 B. Austr. vii. pi. 28 (1848) ; Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. Sterna, p. 28 

 (1863) ; Finsch & Hard. B. Central Polyn. p. 224 (1867). 



Onychoprion melanauchen, Blvth, Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. p. 293 

 (1849) ; Jerdon, B. India, iii. p. 844 ; Swinhoe, Ibis, 1867, p. 230 ; 

 id. P. Z. S. 1871, p. 422 (Amoy) ; Walden, Ibis, 1874, p. 149. 



Sternula melanauchen, Bp. Compt. Bend. xli. ; Blasius, J. f. Orn. 

 1866, p. 74; Gray, Hand-list, iii. p. 121 (1871). 



Sterna marginata, Blyth {fide Jerdon), juv. 



Gygis, sp? et Gygis decorata, Hartlaub, Ibis, 1864, p. 232; 

 Godeffroy's Cat. i. (1864) p. 5. 



In this species the feet are strong and fully webbed ; but I see no 

 reason for separating it from true Sterna. It ranges from the Anda- 

 man and Nicobar Islands, throughout the Malay archipelago, and 

 up the China coast to Amoy, down to the northern coasts of Aus- 

 tralia, New Caledonia, and as far as the Fiji group. The eggs, speci- 

 mens of which I owe to the kindness of Capt. Wimberley stationed 

 at the Andaman Islands, are two in number, and are of a clay-white 

 ground-colour, minutely spotted with brown of various shades ; in 

 some varieties the ground-colour is nearly pure white. 



We now come to a group for which, making S. minuta his type, 

 Boie proposed the genus Sternula — one which I regret to be unable to 

 adopt, owing to the absence of any structural distinctions ; for in some 

 respects it isavery convenient subdivision, and the name explains itself. 



There are four forms of small Tern with white forehead and black 

 lores, the distinguishing features of which have frequently been 

 overlooked, and various species thereby confounded. It is difficult to 

 give the exact range of each ; for the young are not always to be 

 recognized with facility. But the characters of the adults may be 

 briefly enumerated. 



Sterna minuta, Linn. 



Sterna minuta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 228 (1766), et auct. 



Sternula minuta, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 564, type of Sternula. 



Other synonyms are unimportant and need not be given here. 



This Tern, which has dark shafts to the outer primaries, and the 

 rump and tail white, ranges throughout temperate Europe to India, 

 occurs in winter on coast of West Africa as far as the Cape of Good 

 Hope, whence there is a specimen in the British Museum. 



Sterna antillarum, Less. 



Sterna antillarum, Lesson, Desc. Mamm. et Ois. p. 256 (1848); 

 Coues, Proc. Phil. Acad. 1862, p. 552; Scl. & Salv. P.Z. S. 1871, 

 p. 571. 



Sterna argentea, Nutt. Man. ii. p. 280 (1834); Leotaud, Ois. 

 Trinidad, p. 545; Wied, Beit. iv. p. 871 (1833); Burm. Syst. 

 Uebers. iii. 542 ; Pelz. Orn. Bras. p. 325. 



Sterna frenata, Gamb. Proc. Phil. Ac. 1848, p. 128. 



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