STERNA ANASTHETA. 
(THE BKOWN-WINGED TEKN.) 
Sterna ancethetus*, Scop. Del. Flor. et Faun. Ins. i. p. 92 (1786), ex Sonnerat. 
Sterna jpanayensis , Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 607 (1788). 
Onychojyrion panayana (Lath.), apud Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 33 (1848). 
Onychoprion anasthcetus (Scop.), Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 293 (1849) ; Layard, Ann. 
& Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 271 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 844 (1864); Hume, Str. 
Feath. 1874, p. 820; Salvadori, Uccelli di Born. p. 374 (1874). 
Hydrochelidon ancesthetus, Scop., ILeuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1453 (1873). 
Sterna anmtJieta , Scop., Legge, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 377 ; Hume, ibid. 1876, p. 474 ; 
Saunders, P. Z. S. 1876, p. 664; Hume, Str. Feath. 1879, p. 116 (List B. of Ind.). 
Sterna fuliginosa, Gm. apud Legge, Str. Feath. 1875, p. 378. 
Hirondelle de mer de Vile de Panay, Sonn. Yoy. N. Guin. pi. 86 (1776); Panayan Tern, 
Lath. ; Brown-winged Noddy of some. 
Liniya, Sinhalese. 
Characteristics. Loral stripe horizontal from eye to hill; back paler than the wings; inner web of foot not 
extending beyond the last joint of middle toe. Young white beneath. 
Adult male and female (Ceylon, breeding-plumage). Length 14-0 to 15'3 inches ; wing 9'8 to 10-5, expanse 29-0 to 
300 ; tail G - 3 to 7'0, outer tail-feathers attenuated and sometimes 2’0 longer than adjacent pair; depth of fork in 
such 4-5 ; tarsus 07 to 08 ; middle toe and claw 1'08 to 1‘2; bill to gape 1'9 to 2*1, at front l - 6 to l - 7. 
Iris deep brown ; bill black, extreme tip pale horny ; legs and feet black. 
Forehead and a broad stripe extending over each eye white, the frontal portion being narrower than in the last species ; 
centre of the forehead, crown, occiput, and nape glossy black, descending behind the eye to a level with its lower 
edge ; a broad black band from the eye straight forward to the bill, and not taking an oblique direction down to 
the gape ; hind neck greyish white, tinged on the lower part with ashy, and passing into the smoke-brown of the 
mantle, scapulars, and upper tail-coverts and tail, all of which parts are pervaded with an ashy hue, varying 
according to the individual; wing-coverts and tertials darker smoke-brown than the back, edge of the wing white : 
primaries with their coverts and secondaries black-brown, the shafts chocolate-brown, but white beneath ; lateral 
tail-feathers white, with the exception of the extreme tip and the terminal portion of the inner web ; beneath white, 
the chest, breast, flanks, and abdomen more or less tinged with ashy grey; axillaries and under wing pure white. 
Winter plumage (August, Ceylon). Lores, forehead, front of crown, and over the eye white ; feathers of the crown and 
occiput edged with white, the centres blackish brown ; nape-feathers finely tipped with white ; a black spot in 
front of the eye, before which the feathers forming the stripe in summer are greyish ; hind neck slaty, with the 
margins of the feathers greyish ; feathers of the back, rump, and upper tail-coverts tipped iudistinctly with slaty 
grey ; outer webs of the lateral tail-feathers dark for 2| inches or more from the tip ; under surface pure white 
In some examples with unmarked wing-coverts the mantle-feathers are very broadly tipped with white ; these are 
probably birds in their second winter. 
Specimens shot in April and May are in change, acquiring the black loral and coronal feathers. Many are, however, 
in full breeding-plumage by the end of April. 
Young (October and November, Colombo). Length 12-0 to 13-5 inches ; wing 9-8 to 10-0 ; tail 5-0 to 5-5 ; tarsus 0-8 ; 
middle toe 0-9, claw (straight) 03 ; bill to gape 2-0 to 2-15. 
Iris brown ; bill black, inside of mouth white ; legs and feet livid brown, hi some bluish brown. 
* The omission of the “ s ” is doubtless a printer’s error, and should not be followed now. 
