Order LARIFOBMES 
No. 135. 
Family LARIDJE. 
STERNA SUMATRANA KEMPI. 
AUSTRALIAN BLACK-NAPED TERN. 
(Plate 110.)* 
Sterka sfmatrana KEMPI Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 210, 1912 ; Torres 
Strait. 
Sterna melanauchen Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 28, 1848 ; Macgillivray, Voy. 
“ Rattlesnake,” Vol. I., pp, 120, 196, 1852 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., 
p. 400, 1865 ; Masters, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 62, 1875 ; Ramsay, 
ib., Vol. II., p. 201, 1877 ; id.. Tab. List. Austr. Birds, p. 23, 1888; North, Austr. 
Mus. Cat., No. 12, p, 356, 1889 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 126, 
1896 (pars) ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. 
Birds, p. 849, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 89, 1906 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds 
Austral., p. 21, 1908 ; Macgilhvray, Emu, Vol. X., p. 229, 1910. 
Sterna sumatrana hemyi Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 210, 1912. 
Distribution. North Queensland. 
Adult male in breeding-plumage. Back, wings, and tail silvery-grey ; crown of head, 
hind-neck, and the entire under-surface of body silky-white, including the axil- 
laries and under wing-coverts ; a line from behind the eye which widens out on 
the nape and forms a broad black collar ; an elongated black spot in front of the 
eye ; outer web of first primary black. Total length 300 mm. ; cuhnen 38, wing 
197, tail 120, tarsus 19. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Adult in winter-plumage. Differs from the adult in breeding-plumage, in having less 
extensive black on the nape and in front to the eye. 
Immature. “ The fully-fledged young of the year differs from the adult in having the 
black on the head dark brown mottled with white, and the whole of the upper 
surface and wings variegated with dark brownish-grey ” (MacgiUivray). 
Nest. A depression in the sand. 
Eggs. Clutch, two ; ground colour buff, marked all over with irregular shaped markings 
of chestnut, light grey and lavender; axis 39-41 mm., diameter 29. 
Breeding-season. November (Macgillivray). 
Macgillivray t says : “ This beautiful bird is ve^ry local in its breeding- 
places ; the only one known to me being one of the three sand-banks near 
Sir Charles Hardy’s Islands [North Queensland]. The eggs are two in 
* The Plate is lettered Sterna melanauchen. 
t In Gould’s Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 401, 1865. 
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