TERN. 125 



Inhabits Surinam ; often met with 200 leagues from land. Feeds 

 on fish, and pursues the lesser birds, till they disgorge what they 

 have swallowed. We have seen one of these in a collection from 

 Cayenne, in which the vent was rufous. This seems to agree in 

 point of colours and distribution of them, with the Black-headed 

 Tern. 



35- CHINESE TERN. 



Sterna Sinensis, Tnd. Orn. ii. 809. Gm. Lin. i. 608. 

 Chinese Tern, Gen. St/n. vi. 3C5. 



LENGTH eight inches. Bill black, one inch and a quarter long, 

 and moderately stout; nostrils pervious; head, neck, rump, and 

 under parts, white; across the top of the head dusky black, including 

 the eye on each side, and passing downwards in a point, at the nape 

 of the neck ; back cinereous ; some of the feathers edged with pale 

 tawny ; wing coverts fine pale ash-colour, dashed down the middle 

 of the shaft with dusky ; quills fine cinereous grey ; tail short, very 

 little forked, paler than the quills; legs slender, orange; claws 

 hooked, and black. 



Inhabits China ; has somewhat the appearance of the Lesser Tern, 

 but the tail is much less forked, and the distribution of colours do 

 not agree. 



36. -JAVA N TERN. 



Sterna Javanica, Lin. Trans, xiii. p. 198. — Horsfield. 



LENGTH eleven inches. Colour glaucous ; throat, cheeks, 

 neck behind, wings, and tail beneath, white ; head above black : 

 quills brownish grey, marked within with a whitish patch ; bill and 

 legs yellow. — Inhabits Java. 



