HYDROCHELIDON LEUCOPTERA. 
(THE WHITE-WINGED MARSH-TEEN.) 
Sterna leucoptera, Meisner & Schinz, Vog. Schweiz, p. 264 (1815). 
Hydrochelidon leucoptera (Meis. & Sch.), Buller, B. of New Zealand ; Dresser, B. of Eur. 
pt. 45 (1875) ; Saunders, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 641 ; David & Oust. Ois. de la Chine, p. 524 
(1877) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1879, p. 115 (List B. of Ind.). 
Sterna nigra, Linn, apud Holdsvv. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 481 (first record from Ceylon); Legge, 
J. A. S. (Ceylon Br.), 1874, p. 58 ; id. Str. Feath. 1875, p. 376. 
Hydrochelidon nigra, Linn, apud Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 421 ; Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. 
ii. p. 1447 (1873). 
Hirondelle de mer leucoptere , French. 
White-winged Black Tern. 
Adult mule and female (China). V iiig 8-0 to 8'3 inches ; tail 2 - 8 to 3‘0 ; tarsus 07 ; middle toe 0'7, its claw 0-3 to 
0-38 ; bill to gape I ‘21 to 1-38. (Europe) wing 7'9 to 8'4; tail 3-0 to 3T ; tarsus 0'8; bill to gape 1-3 to 1-55. 
(Ceylon) 5 , wing 8-0 ; bill at front 097. 
Iris dark brown ; bill reddish black ; inside of mouth yellowish red ; legs and feet orange-red, claws black. 
Adult (May, Amoy). Head, neck, and throat deep black, paling to brown-black on the breast and abdomen, and to 
black pervaded with grey on the interscapulary region ; back, rump and scapulars, upper tail-coverts and tail 
white, the latter washed with grey, most darkly on the centre feathers ; the lateral pair pure white ; least wing- 
coverts and along the edge of the wing white, passing into dark grey on the greater coverts and tertials ; primary- 
coverts greyish white ; secondaries grey, darkening into brownish on the tips of the innermost feathers ; first 
three primaries black, washed with grey on the outer webs, and the inner edges whitish ; the remainder frosty 
greyish white on the outer webs and brownish on the inner, the shafts white ; under tail-coverts and under 
surface of tail white ; axillaries greyish black ; under wing-coverts black, but the primary series whitish ; edge 
of the wing beneath white. 
Winter plumage (Spain). Forehead and crown white ; nape and occiput dark grey, as also the back and scapulars ; 
the rump and upper tail-coverts pale greyish, almost white ; throat, fore neck, under tail-coverts, and under wing 
white ; breast greyish ; in front of the eye a black spot. 
Hie change to summer plumage takes place by a moult in May; the head and throat become interspersed with black 
feathers, as also the chest, breast, and under wing ; and in June the full plumage is donned. The example shot 
by Mr. Holdswortb is in change as here described. In some specimens the blackish of the lower back ends 
abruptly against the white of the upper tail-coverts, iu others the colours blend. The hue of the wing-coverts 
varies, some birds being whiter than others. 
Nestling in down (Volga, mus. Dresser). Pale yellowish or earthy brown ; the crown patched with black, a stripe of 
the same down the nape, and a spot on each side of it ; down the centre of the back a series of black patches 
branching out at the lower part of the neck and again on the wings ; ear-coverts and ears white ; down of the 
throat tipped black. 
First autumn plumage. Tarsi and feet reddish brown; bill blackish. Crown, occiput, and nape brown; the white of 
the sides of the nape encroaching on the dark colour of the nape just behind the ear ; interscapulary region and 
scapulars earth-brown, the feathers tipped with fulvous ; lower back brownish slaty ; rump white ; tail and the 
coverts slate-grey, the former tinged with brown and tipped with white ; wing-coverts slate-grey, tipped with 
fulvous and brown ; lesser coverts dark slate-grey, edged with white ; primaries blackish grey, the outer webs 
“ frosted ” ; beneath white, passing round the hind neck. 
Second gear $ (July, Hambantota). Length 9-5 inches ; wing 7-85; tail 2-85; tarsus 075 ; middle toe 07. 
Iris brown ; bill black with a reddish tinge ; legs and feet vinous brown; webs brown. 
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