THE CASPIAN TERN. 
427 
765. STERNA CASPIA. 
THE CASPIAN TERN. 
Sterna caspia, Pall. Nov. Comm. Petrop. xiv. p. 582 ; Hume, S. i^. i. p. 280 ; Oates^ 
S. F. iii. p. 347; Saunders, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 65G ; Dresser, Birds Fur. viii. 
p. 289, pi. ; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 115 ; Parker, S. F. ix. p. 487 ; Legge, Birds 
Ceylon, p. 1008 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 246. Sylochelidon caspius, Jerd. B. Ind, 
ii. p. 835 ; David ei Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 522. 
Description. — Summer plumage. Forehead^ crown_, ear-coverts^ nape and 
the upper part of the hind neck black; upper plumage_, wings and tail 
grey the primaries blackish at the tip ; sides of the neck and the whole 
lower plumage white. 
In winter the portions of the head which are black in summer are white 
streaked with blacky except the cheeks^, ear-coverts and feathers round the 
eye^ which remain more or less dusky. 
Bill orange^ bluish brown near the tip^ and the tip yellow; iris dark 
brown ; legs and feet black ; claws black above^ white below. 
Length 20 inches^ tail 5*5^ wing 15*7^ tarsus 1'75^ bill from gape 3*8; 
tail but slightly forked. 
I shot two Caspian Terns in June at the mouth of the Sittang river, 
and it has not yet been recorded from any other part of the Province. 
It has an immense range, being found on the coasts of Europe, North 
America and Africa, and extending through Asia down to Australia 
and New Zealand. 
This large Tern is usually met with singly or in pairs ; and it may be 
looked for in Burmah at all times of the year, for I procured it in June, 
and Mr. Parker found it breeding in Ceylon in the same month. The 
small colony this gentleman discovered at Adam''s Bridge had deposited 
their eggs on a sand-bank, each nest, or rather hollow in the sand, contain- 
ing either one or two eggs. This Tern is found not only on the coast but 
also far inland on the larger rivers and tanks. 
