OCR Text |
Show 1876.] MR. H. SAUNDERS ON THE STERNIN.E. 665 Haliplana discolor, Coues, Ibis, 1864, p. 392; Elliot, B. N. Am. ii. pl. 57 (1869). ? Hydrochelidon somalensis, Heugl. Orn. N.O.-Afr. p. 1458, p. ccvii (1873). Haliplana anosthatus, Gray, Hand-list, iii. p. 122 (1871). Sterna melanoptera, Swainson, B. W . Afr. ii. p. 249 (1837) (type in Camh. Mus. examined, II. S.). This species, originally described from the Philippine Islands, is somewhat smaller than S. fuliginosa ; the colour of the mantle is also less intensely dark. But the principal distinction is found in the feet, in which the webbing, instead of coming down to the claws between the outer and middle toe as in S. fuliginosa, only descends to the last joint, showing a more important structural difference between two such closely allied species than there is between Onychoprion and typical Sterna--aa additional reason for discarding the former genus and its synonyms. The drawings show the shape of the feet in both species. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 2. Foot of St erna fuliginosa. Fig. 3. Foot of Sterna ancestheta. In the young of the present species the underparts are light-coloured on emerging from the downy stage, whereas in S. fuliginosa they remain dark for some time. Its range appears to be nearly identical with that of S. fuliginosa, and is noticed under that head. STERNA LUNATA, Peale. Sterna lunata, Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds, p. 277 (1848) ; Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds, p. 382 (1858); Schlegel, Mus. P.- |