STERNA MEDIA. 
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with the inner webs of the two first quills marked with white, as in the adult ; terminal portions of the tail- 
feathers brown, with the extremities whitish ; the least wing-coverts brown, forming a conspicuous band along the 
ulna. 
Obs. Examples of S. affiiiis from the Red Sea are identical with Indian birds. A specimen before me measures as 
follows wing 11-4 inches ; tail 4-6 ; tarsus 1-0 ; middle toe 0-8, its claw 0-3 ; bill to gape 2-9, at front 2-1. The 
tints of the upper surface are the same as in Ceylonese birds. Mr. Hume gives the dimensions of a Laccadive 
female as— length 15-0 inches ; expanse 35-25 ; wing 11*3; tarsus 1-0 ; bill from gape 2-6 : weight 8 oz. A male 
from the Gulf of Oman— length 16-5 inches ; wing 12-25 ; tail 6-0 ; tarsus 1*1 ; bill to gape 2-93. The North- 
Australian bird, S. torresii, is identical with ours ; but on the coasts of New Zealand and Tasmania it is replaced by 
another species, S. frontalis. Gray, which differs in having a blade bill, like that of the Sandwich Tern, and the 
forehead, in summer plumage, is white, as in the species last noticed : a specimen before me measures— wing 10-5 
inches, bill to gape 2-2. The present species is allied to the American Crested Terns, S. elegans, Gambel, and 
S. eurygnatha, Saunders, but is, according to Mr. Saunders, smaller, and has the gonys not so long, and the rump 
and tail much darker. 
As the Sandwich Tern, S. cantiaea , Gm., has been referred to above, it may be well for me to notice it here, as it may 
some day occur in Ceylon, being very abundant off the coast of Sindh. It may be distinguished from all other 
Terns inhabiting this region by its long, slender, black, yellow-tipped bill. In winter the forehead and front of 
crown are satiny white, and the occiput and nape marked as in the Large Crested Tern ; the upper surface is very 
pale blue-grey, the primaries light silver-grey, the tail and its coverts almost white. A specimen in my collec- 
tion measures: — wing 11-4 inches; tail 5"0 ; tarsus 1"1 ; bill to gape 2-95. The outer web is considerably 
excised. Bill black to within 0-4 inch of the tip, which is yellow ; legs and feet black. In summer the head and 
forehead are black down to the bill. 
Distribution. — This Tern is the most numerous species on our coasts, and is perhaps equal in point 
of numbers with the Marsh-Tern. In the north of the island it is, together with the Gull-hilled Tern, the 
most abundant of its family. It is common on the west coast from September until May, frequenting the 
rocks at Colombo, and fishing much in the freshwater lakes round Slave Island. It is also numerous on 
the brackish lake at Negombo. By the middle of May it disappears from this part of the island, many birds 
beino- in summer plumage and many in winter at that time. In the north-east it appears in August, and 
by the end of October great numbers are about the coasts, more being seen in windy rainy weather near 
the shore than when it is fine. It leaves this part also in May. During the month of March I found it very 
numerous on the Jaffna Lake and at Manaar, as also about Ivarativoe and the adjoining islets. As regards 
the south-eastern region, the locality where Terns are most abundant, its distribution is singular, for, like the 
Gull-billed Tern, numbers are to be seen there in non-breeding plumage throughout the summer. Examples 
shot then, as a matter of course, showed no signs of fecundity. There appeal’s to be no other solution of the 
abundance of non-breeding Terns in this portion of Ceylon than in the hypothesis that they are birds bred south 
of the Line in the opposite season to the breeding-time in India, and which come to Ceylon when the cool-season 
birds leave to rear their young in localities north of the island. In August great numbers of this species are to 
he seen out at the Basses, which is the great fishing-ground of the Terns on the south-east coast. 
At the Andamans it has not been observed, and it is only recorded by Mr. Davison from one locality 
(Camorta) in the Nicobars. In Sumatra it has been procured at the south-east corner (Lampong) and also 
in other districts by Muller ; whilst in J ava it was obtained by Horsfield, and first described by him from that 
island. On the west side of India Mr. Hume met with it in the Laccadives, at Pere-Mull-Par and Gherbaniani. 
On the coasts of the mainland Jerdon says it is perhaps more abundant than the last species, “ especially 
about the backwaters of Madras and the Malabar coasts Higher up the Bay on the east coast it is rarer ; and 
on the other side Blyth is the only naturalist who has recorded it from the shores of Tenasserim. It is 
common about Bombay and on the coast of Sindh in harbours and backwaters; from the Indus to Gwader 
it is very abundant, says Mr. Hume, being found there in vast flocks with the Sandwich Icrn. Thence 
westwards it will in all probability occur in tolerable numbers in the Persian Gulf and round the coast of 
Arabia, where Yon Heuglin says it can scarcely be called a resident, though it is common in the Gulf of Aden. 
In the Red Sea it is resident, but confined chiefly to the southern portion, being only found occasionally on 
the Egyptian part of the coast and on the lagoons of the delta. Captain Shelley, however, remarks that it is 
