THE BlRDci OF ME80WTAMIA. 
9;^9 
which are liable to be flooded by spring tides, and which lie between fao and 
the Abdidla Banks ; from the latter neighbourhood Gumming obtained eggs on 
April 24th, 1884. Tomlinson found an egg of this Gull in the marshes near 
Basra about June 9th, 191.3. 
Just before and just after the breeding season this species may be met with 
in huge flocks on floods, such as existed at Akkarkuf near Baghdad. 
Three skins examined : Akkarkuf 6-10-17 : ^ , Halfayah, 6-7-18 (P. A. B.) ; 
Hindia Barrage, 8-7-17 (C. R. P.). 
297. Whiskered Tern. Hydrochelidon leucopareia. 
H ydrochelidon leucopareia (Temm.) (Man. d’Ornith. 2nd Ed. 2, 1820, 
p. 746 — Hungary). 
Gumming has recorded that the Whiskered Tern is resident all the year at Fao 
though all the specimens he obtained were got in August and September. Pit- 
man says it first arrived near Feluja on April 23rd ; he saw many on the inunda- 
tions west of Baghdad at the end of May. In June he found it breeding in the 
marshes of Babylon, Kerbela and Museyib, on both banks of the Euphrates, and 
took two nests of one and two fresh eggs respectively on June 3rd, and obtained 
a breeding bird. The nests were quite large made of grasses and aquatic plants 
and were almost in the water on a semi-submerged strip of land in the centre of a 
large marsh ; he found also many empty nests. The eggs were pale stone and 
pale clay buff, sparsely spotted and blotched with brownish surface, and purple- 
grey and slate shell markings. They average P585xP215 inch or 40x31 mm. 
It is noted as common near Baghdad from mid-July onwards, also on Suw'ei- 
k3^eh Marsh and Gheesman obtained one at Sheik Saad on December 15th. 
298. White=\vinged Black Tern. Hydrochelidon leucoptera. 
Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Temm.) (Man. d’Ornith., 1815, p. 483 — 
Mediterranean shores). 
A common summer visitor to the marshes of lower Mesopotamia ; it arrives 
about the middle of April till well on into May and may then be found feeding in 
flocks over cornfields, stubbles, etc., as well as marshes and on the rivers. So far 
as I am aware no eggs were actually taken but there can be no doubt that it 
breeds. Magrath sa}fs it nested on the shores of the Suw'eikiyeh lake ; Tomlinson 
saw pairs near Basra in the breeding season, and Buxton found it common near 
there on May 28th and saw some on the Hamar lake on the 15th. On the mar- 
shes round the Hindia Barrage, Pitman found it fairly common in June and July 
and obtained a bird on June 12th, he thought that probably some pf the empty 
nests he found there belonged to this species and that on June 3rd most of these 
and Whiskered Terns had hatched out. He saw plenty of young on the wing 
there on July 2nd. After the breeding season they spread out to other marshes 
and floods, and Pitman noted that in August flocks were coming to the marshes 
near Baghdad to hawk insects at dawn and in the evening, while they were absent 
during the rest of the day. Buxton noted flocks passing up the river, probably 
on passage, every day at Baghdad from September 7th to 24th and this letter 
date is the last on which there is any record. This species was recorded in 
many places from Tekrit to the Karun river, but the onlj' places where there w'as 
at all any evidence of its breeding are those mentioned. 
Zarudny curiously omits this Tern from his list, but says the Black Tern {H. 
nigra) is a passage migrant. We have no records of this species. 
299. Common Tern. Sterna hirundo. 
Sterna hirundo, L. {=fluviatilis, auct.) (Syst. Nat. Ed. x, 1758, p. 137 
— Sweden). 
The Common Tern seems to be resident in Mesopotamia moving about locally 
but as there few winter records perhaps the majority are summer visitors 
