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Show 662 MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN.E. [June 20, Sterna superciliaris, Cab. J. f. Orn. v. 232; Coues, Key, p. 332 (1872^ Sterna superciliaris, var. antillarum, Coues, B. N . W . A m . p. 692 (1874). . . . Similar to the above, and has also dark shafts to primaries; but the rump and tail-coverts are pearl-grey like the mantle, and there is but little black at tip of bill. Ranges throughout temperate America, on both coasts, and down to the Antilles, Trinidad, lat. 10° N. STERNA SUPERCILIARIS, Vieill. Sterna superciliaris, Vieillot, N. D. xxxii. p. 126 (1819), based on the Hati ceja blanca of Azara; Scl. & Salv. P.Z.S. 1871, p. 571 ; Coues, B. N.W. A m . p. 692 (1874), in part. Back, rump, and tail slightly darker than in the above ; bill stouter and entirely yellow ; the legs and feet also are of an olivaceous colour in m y Amazon specimens, very different from the bright yellow of those parts in the two foregoing*. Is found on all the large South-American rivers from the Parana upwards, is plentiful on the Amazons and the Ucayali, and I found it abundant on the river Huallaga still further west. STERNA SINENSIS, Gm. Sterna sinensis, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 608 (1788), based on the Chinese Tern of Latham. Sterna minuta, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. 1820, xiii. p. 198. Sternula sinensis, Swinhoe, Ibis, 1863, p. 430 ; id. P. Z.S. 1863, p. 329. Sternula minuta, Swinhoe, P.Z.S. 1871, p. 422 (Formosa and China). Sternula placens, Gould, Ann. Nat. Hist. viii. p. 192 (1871); id. B. New Guinea, pt. iii. pl. 7 (May 1876). Like S. minuta, hut shafts of outer primaries white; as a rule also the bird is a trifle larger and stouter, and has a longer development of lateral tail-feathers than S. minuta. Ranges from Ceylon, where it breeds, to the China seas, to Queensland, and down the Australian coast; how far I cannot say, as I have no specimens from there with trustworthy localities. From Ceylon Capt. Vincent Legge, R.A., has sent me a fine series, with the eggs, which are, as might naturally be expected, like those of S. minuta. He also sent me a nestling with the outer quill-feathers only partially developed; and on comparing it with a * Dr. Coues (B. of N . W . A m . p. 694) distinguisbes S. ant'illarum from S.minuta by its grey rump and smaller bill with little black at tbe tip; but be goes on to argue that because it has sometimes no black at all on the bill, as is the case with $. superciliaris, which bas, in its turn, a bill as stout or stouter than S. minuta, therefore & superciliaris and S. antillarum are to be united. I fail to see how he can consistently do this without putting all the small Terns under one head; for the stout bill, especially so from the angle to the tip, and the abrupt prolongation of the outer tail-feathers in 8. superciliaris, to say nothing of coloration, suffice to distinguish it from any other member of the group. |
