STERNA BERGII. 
(THE LARGE CRESTED TERN.) 
Sterna bergii, Licht. Verzeich. p. 80 (1823), ex South Africa; Von Heuglin, Om. N.Ost-Afr. 
ii. p. 1436 (1873); Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 83 ; Saunders, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 657 ; Hume, 
Str. Feath. 1876, p. 470, et 1878, p. 493 (B. of Tenass.), et 1879, p. 116 (List B. of 
Inch); Butler, ibid. 1877, p. 298. 
Sterna cristata , Steph. in Shaw’s Gen. Zool. xiii. pt. 1, p. 146 (1825); Salvadori, Uccelli di 
Born. p. 376 (1874). 
Sterna velox, Rupp. Atlas, p. 21, pi. 13 (1826). 
Sterna pelecanoides, King, Surv. Int. Austr. ii. App. Aves, p. 422 (1826) ; Legge, Ibis, 1875, 
p. 407. 
Thalasseus pelecanoides (King), Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 23 (1848). 
Thalasseus poliocercus, Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 24 (1848). 
Thalasseus cristatus (Steph.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 291(1849) ; Layard, Ann. & Mag. 
Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 270 ; Iloklsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 481 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 842. 
Thalasseus bergii (Licht.), David & Oust. Ois. de la Chine, p. 523 (1877). 
The Crested Tern, The Larger Sea-Tern, The Sivift Tern of some. Kddal Kuruvi, Ceylonese 
Tamils ; El Held, Arabic (Heuglin) ; Tola in the Friendly Islands. 
Liniya, Sinhalese. 
Note. The present species, the next in order, and one or two allied Terns form a small well-marked group, with stout 
rather curved bill, strongly pronounced gonys, elongated nuchal feathers, and completely webbed feet, which are 
classed by Boie as Sea-Terns ( Thalasseus ). 
Adult male and female (Ceylon). Length 2(H) to 21-5 inches ; wing 13-9 to 14-75 (average about 14-4); tail 7 - 0 to 
8 - 6, fork of the tail about 4-0 deep ; tarsus 1-25 to 1-35 ; middle toe and nail 1-3 to 1-45 ; bill to gape 3-4 to 
3-6, at front 2-5 to 2-7. Expanse 42 to 46 inches. Females in this species are, as a whole, no smaller than males. 
Breeding-plumage. Iris dark brown ; bill murky yellow, tinged with green in parts ; roof of mouth and tongue bluish ; 
legs and feet black, with a reddish tinge, soles yellowish. 
Forehead to within J inch of the bill, top of the bead down to a line with the lower eyelid, occiput, and a pointed crest 
of about 1 § inch in length glossy black ; point of the forehead, lores, face, entire neck, and under surface, with 
the under tail-coverts, under wing and its edge pure white ; back and wing-coverts dark slate-grey, paling on the 
upper tail-coverts and tail, and blending into the white of the hind neck ; lateral tail-feathers, which are very 
much attenuated, with most of the outer web white ; quill-shafts white ; primaries dark irou-grey, “ frosted ” with 
silvery grey when first moulted, but in old feather turning to blackish brown, the inner portions white, extending 
on the 1st along the edge to the tip, but running in a point into the black extremities of the rest ; secondaries 
dark grey, with their terminal margins and inner portions white. In some examples the black forehead approaches 
to within 0-1 of the bill, but never touches it as in the next species. 
Winter plumage. Bill greener than in summer ; legs and feet pure black. 
Forehead and lores white, as also the coronal feathers, the central portions of the latter being black, which gradually 
increases, leaving the edges and tips only of the nuchal feathers white ; a black border in front of the eye, and the 
upper cheek and ear-covert feathers striped with the same, varying according to the individual ; back and wings 
not so dark as in summer. 
Examples shot in January in Ceylon show signs of moult in the wings and tail, so that the winter plumage is not 
complete until very late. The outer tail-feathers are not so pointed as in summer, when, however, they speedily 
become abraded after being acquired in April. 
