Order LARIF0RME8 
No. 146. 
Family LARIDM. 
GYGIS ALBA ROYANA. 
AUSTEALIAN WHITE TERN. 
(Plate 119.)* 
Gygis alba royana, subsp. n. ; Kermadec Islands ; Type no. 317 in my collection. 
O^jgis Candida Gould, Birds Austr., Vol. VII., pi. 30, 1848 ; Bennett, Gath. Naturalist, 
p. 241, 1860 ; Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 405, 1865 ; Saunders, Proc. 
Zool. Soc. (Lond.) 1876, p. 667 (pars) ; Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc N.S.W., Vol. II., 
p. 201, 1877 ; Crowfoot, Ibis 1885, p. 266 ; Ramsay, Tab. List Austr. Birds, p. 23, 
1888 ; Campbell, Viet. Nat., Vol. IV., p. 188, 1888 ; North, Austr. Mus. Cat., 
No. 12, p. 374, 1889 ; Cheeseman, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. 1888, Vol. XXI., p. 122, 
1889 ; id., ib., Vol. XXIII., 1890, p. 222, 1891 ; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., 
Vol. XXV., p. 149, 1896 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests 
and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 857, 1901 ; Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 90, 1906. 
Oygis alba Hartert, Nov. Zool., Vol. V., p. 67, 1898 ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., 
Vol. I., p. 163, 1905 ; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 22, 1908 ; Iredale, Emu, 
Vol. X., p. 9, 1910 ; Hull, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 661, 1910 ; 
Bell, Emu., Vol. XII., p. 26, 1912. 
Gygis alba Candida Mathews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 211, 1912. 
Distribution. North-east Australia, breeding on Norfolk Island and the Kermadecs. 
Adult male. Entire upper and under surface of body ivory-white ; short feathers sur- 
rounding the eye black ; shaft-lines of primary-quills dark brown, somewhat 
darker and inchning to black on the shafts of the tail-feathers ; “ Bill black at 
tip, base blue, iris brown ; tarsi, toes and webs yellow (Gould).” Total length 
330 mm. ; culmen 45, wing 250, tail 110, tarsus io. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male, but somewhat smaller. Total length 260 mm. ; 
culmen 40, wing 243, tail 108, tarsus 14. 
Immature. Appears to be undescribed. 
Nestling. “ Covered with black down ” (Hull). 
Nest. The egg is laid in a depression on the branch of a tree or on a point of rock.' 
Egg. Clutch, one; ground-colour stone, blotched all over with reddish-brown and 
lavender. Some examples have a resemblance to the eggs of Chlamydera ; axis 
42-44 mm., diameter 33. 
Breeding-season. October and November (Hull, Norfolk Island) ; December and January 
(Metcalfe) ; February (Hull) ; October onwards (Bell, Kermadec Islands). 
* The Plate is lettered Oygia alba. 
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