1024 
STERNA SAUNDERSI. 
Ohs. I have followed Mr. Hume in applying the title saundersi to this species instead of sumatrana, which has been 
adopted by Mr. Saunders, because I think Raffles’s description of his small species from Sumatra does not satis- 
factorily apply to our bird. It is that of a young bird, and is as follows : — “ A small species, with a short tail 
and wings about the same length with it. The prevailing colour is white, tinged on the back, head, and wing- 
coverts with light reddish brown, and mixed with a few dark spots ; a blackish crescent extends from eye to eye , 
round the back of the head ; wing-feathers lead-grey, the first one nearly black-, lower parts more white ; tail of 
the same colour as the back” (Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 329, 1822). Now in our bird, when immature, nearly all 
the primaries are black, and, further, there is no such crescent from eye to eye. It is probable, as Mr. Hume 
suggests, when he proposed his title in honour of Mr. Saunders, (hat Raffles was dealing with the Black-naped 
Tern, 8. melcmauchen. 1 would add that Indian specimens of 8. saundersi are clearly the same as Ceylonese, as 
there could not well be two species of dark-rumped Little Terns in these regions. 
The specimen above described is not perhaps in perfect breeding-plumage, and the organs were but little developed. 
It appears, from data given by Mr. Hume concerning a specimen taken at Kurrachee off the eggs, that the bill is 
yellow', broadly tipped with dusky ; and this was what my specimen was turning to. The dimensions of this 
Kurrachee bird are : — length 9'12 inches ; wing 6-43; tail 3-0 ; tarsus 0-6; bill at front M2, from gape I'd. 
$. minuta, Linn., the European representative of this species, is found in Lidia, as I have seen specimens collected at 
Futtehgurh not to be separated from Spanish birds, though the upper tail-coverts were scarcely so white. It differs 
from the present species in having a stouter bill, the black of the crown not generally coining so far forward in a 
point upon the forehead, in the first two quills and the first two primary-covert feathers being black, with black 
shafts, the remaining feathers being grey; and finally in the upper tail-coverts and tail being white : wing G'5 to 
7'0 inches, bill at front 1-1 to 1-2. Lidian specimens incline towards a greyer rump than European ; but the 
quills are coloured in the same manner, and the character in question is a slight local variation only. 
In specimens from hot climates (one from Toughoo and another from Abyssinia are before me) the centre of the shaft 
of the first quill becomes bleached from the effect of sun and salt-water, and the bird looks at first like the last 
species ; but the second quill-shaft is always jet-black, which is a characteristic of true minuta. This peculiar 
feature seems to me to have caused erroneous theories as to this latter bird not being found in India, and I 
imagine is one of the characteristics of Mr. Hume’s 8. gouldi, combined with the trifling greyish tint of the upper 
tail-coverts before mentioned. I have, however, never found an example in Ceylon with two black-shafted black- 
webbed quills and pale rump ; aud 1 therefore do not admit the species into our lists. Mr. Saunders recognizes 
a form intermediate between the Grey-rumped and the White-rumped Ternlets (S. minuta), which is found on 
the coasts of America, and to which he applies Lesson’s title, 8. antillarum. It has the bill more slender than the 
White-rumped, but not so attenuated as the Grey-rumped Ternlet, and the rump and upper tail-coverts are pearl- 
grey, like the mantlet. It appears to me, after examining his specimens, to be scarcely separable from the former 
species. 
Distribution. — This Ternlet is not so abundant in Ceylon as the last species ; but it is widely distributed, 
being found even on the west coast in the north-east monsoon. It may often be seen on the Colombo Lake from 
November till March ; and it is likewise met with on the Negombo, Bolgodde, and Amblangoda lakes. On the 
south-east coast it occurs in tolerable numbers, but not so plentifully as the White-shafted Ternlet, although 
in the breeding-season apparently a fair percentage of all the Ternlets I saw there belonged to it. I have met 
with it at Batticaloa, and further north, in the Trincomalie district, it is as common as it is at Hambantota. 
In the Jaffna peninsula it seems to be almost as numerous as the white-shafted species, as most examples I 
shot on the Jaffna Lake in March belonged to it; they were beginning then, in some instances, to acquire 
the black summer cap. It is found on the coasts of India and Tenasserim, and is common in the Laccadives ; 
but I see no record of its occurrence at the Andamans. It has been obtained at the mouth of the Laynah 
creek, south of Mergui, and is believed by Mr. Davison to inhabit the Mergui archipelago. Mr. Hume has 
recorded it from Madras, and also from the Sutlej river, where it apparently breeds, as the specimen in question 
is said to he a nestling. It is common at Kurrachee and breeds there. Beyond the confines of India to the 
westward its distribution is hut little known. Mr. Saunders has seen a specimen from Zoulla (Red Sea) 
which he identifies with this species ; and likewise has an example in his own collection from Fantee, west 
coast of Africa. 
Habits. — This Ternlet much resembles the last species in its habits. Its flight is quite as swift, and it 
has the same fashion of hovering over the water with bill pointed downwards, and then plunging perpendi- 
