STEENA ANGLICA. 
1018 
Mr. Hume took the eggs on the Chenab. It inhabits Central Asia, but does not range far north in Siberia, as 
I only find Radde recording it from the Tarei-nor. It breeds in Turkestan, and is common in that country, 
according to Severtzoff. Further east, it inhabits Mongolia, the district of Ordos, and the province of Ala- 
shan, breeding in the Hoang-ho valley and in Southern Ala-shan. In China it appears to be rare : Pere 
David supposes that he saw it in North China ; and Swinhoe does not record it, although Mr. Saunders 
possesses a specimen subsequently procured by the latter at Amoy. In the Malay archipelago it has been 
obtained in Java, Borneo (Banjermassing) , and Ilalmahera, while on the shores of Australia it is occasionally 
met with. Mr. Gould records it from Moreton Bay and from the Victoria River, North-west Australia; and 
Mr. Ramsay notes it in his catalogue from Rockingham Bay, V ide Bay, Clarence River, and New South 
Wales. Returning now to Western Asia, I find Canon Tristram recording it from Palestine, where he met 
with it near Beyrout ; and Dr. Kriiper observed it in Asia Minor, finding it breeding near Smyrna. 
In Europe it is common in Greece, breeding in abundance in Missolonghi. It is found in Turkey, fre- 
quenting rivers and lakes in Bessarabia ; it occurs in Transylvania, and has been obtained on the Neusiedler 
Lake, in Hungary. It has been met with in Malta and Gozo, as also in Sardinia, whilst in Sicily it is 
common. In Italy, writes Count Salvadori, it is a spring visitor, and then not abundant. In summer it 
extends through Germany to the shores of the Baltic, where it is rare; but in Denmark it breeds, though not 
now so numerously as in former years. It does not range as far north as Scandinavia, according to 
Mr. Dresser, nor is it found in Finland or in Northern Russia. To Great Britain it is a rare straggler, having 
visited only the southern and eastern coasts. In Holland and France it is only an occasional visitant, occurring 
in the latter chiefly on passage. It is recorded from Portugal; and in Southern Spain it is, according to 
Mr. Saunders, abundant in the marisma, breeding at the “ mouth of the Guadalquivir and many other places.” 
Col. Irby did not notice it about Gibraltar, but found it on the African side of the Straits in great numbers at 
the Ras-Dowra lakes. Canon Tristram likewise met with it in flocks in the Western and Eastern Sahara, and 
found it breeding at Zana. It is abundant in Algeria and in Egypt, breeding in both countries, in the latter 
resorting for this purpose to the lagoons of Lower Egypt. Von Ileuglin states that it extends southwards to 
the Blue and White Nile and the swamps of Kordofan, but occurs in the southern districts only from August 
until March. In Abyssinia it was observed during the latter month; and on the shores of the Red Sea it was 
also observed in winter only. It does not range into South Africa, nor is it found on the west coast ; but on 
the other side of the Atlantic it extends from the United States down the whole east coast, including Cuba, to 
Patagonia, where Darwin procured it. Dresser found it common in Texas, and Mr. Salvin in Guatemala, the 
only locality on the west coast where it has been seen. From Brazil Messrs. Sclater and Salvin record it. 
Habits . — This widely-distributed Tern is, on the whole, more partial to fresh and brackish water than to 
the open coast. It frequents lagoons, estuaries, rivers, freshwater lakes, tanks, and flooded paddy-fields, and in 
these resorts is not unfrequently seen in Ceylon with the Marsh-Tern. It is conspicuous for the great propor- 
tionate length of its wings, w r hich furnish it with considerable powers of flight, its movements being rapid, 
buoyant, and graceful. Its wings are not rapidly plied, but steadily, at a moderate rate, the length of the 
stroke carrying it through the air at a considerable speed. When met with on the salt lagoons of Ceylon several 
are generally not far from one another, coursing over their surface, and careering backwards and forwards in 
search of their prey. Sometimes a considerable number associate together ; and at Trincomalie I have seen a 
large flock, together with the Small Crested Tern, hovering round the lengthy sein-nets which were being 
drawn to shore by the fishermen. It has a very peculiar note or laugh, which comes upon the ear with 
startling suddenness, and which Col. Irby not inaptly likens to kuh-wuk, kuh-wuk : this it often repeats several 
times, and then relapses into silence, not constantly uttering its call like the Crested Terns. It has another 
singular note, like che-ah, which I have noticed more in the summer season than in the winter, and which I 
accordingly take to be its call-note. Its diet is somewhat varied ; in Ceylon I have found it to consist of frogs, 
crabs and fish ; the two former are picked to pieces while being eaten. In Egypt Von Heuglin has seen it 
darting into the smoke of a prairie fire in pursuit of locusts; and he found it generally feeding on beetles, 
butterflies &c. In Algeria Mr. Salvin noticed much the same thing, seeing it hovering over grass-fields, and 
descending upon grasshoppers and beetles. When pouncing upon fish it descends with a rapid swoop, but 
does not immerse itself in the water. 
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