Part 38

"Adult in autumn.--Similar, with more white on the forehead, and shorter tail-streamers; primaries darker on their terminal portions, owing to the disappearance of the frosting, until the new quills appear.

"Immature.--Like the above, but dull white on crown and the front of the lores; primaries still darker, the outer shafts always white, the other shafts dusky; upper wing-coverts dark gray; tail-feathers grayish, and the streamers not much prolonged; bill dark brown, tarsi and toes ochraceous.

"Young.--Forehead buffish white, crown with black streaks which become confluent on nape; upper parts mottled and barred with buffish brown on a dull gray ground. Bill horn-color; feet ocher-yellow. When the bird is barely fledged the buff-color predominates on the upper surface." (Saunders.)

"Found by us in great abundance near the center of Mindoro, where it was flying about over the dried beds of streams and alighting among the pebbles, its color assimilating so closely with that of the sand and small stones that it was well nigh impossible to see it on the ground." (Bourns and Worcester MS.)

84. STERNA MELANAUCHEN Temminck.

BLACK-NAPED TERN.

Sterna melanauchen Temminck, Pl. Col. (1827), pl. 427; Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 25, 126; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 137; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1901), 1, 195; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 21.

Palawan (Platen); Cresta de Gallo (McGregor). Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, Nicobars, Andamans, northern Mascarene Islands, Pacific Islands, Liu Kiu Islands, northern Australia.

"Adult in breeding plumage.--Forehead and crown pure white; in front of the eye a black triangular patch, the apex of which does not reach base of bill; behind the eye on each side and inclosing the nape a band of black, broad and prolonged in the center; neck white; mantle and rump delicate pearl-gray; shafts of all primaries white; outer primary with the outer web blackish, and the streak next shaft on inner web pale gray; the succeeding primaries palest gray next the shafts on the outer and the inner webs, the inner margins of all being pure white; tail long and forked, the middle tail-feathers pale pearl-gray, the rest white; under parts glossy white, with a beautiful roseate tint. Bill black; tarsi and toes dark brown to black. Length, 343; culmen, 41; wing, 216; tail, 152; depth of fork, 76; tarsus, 18; foot with middle toe, 23. The male appears to have somewhat longer streamers than the female; otherwise the sexes are alike externally.

"Adult in winter plumage.--Differs only in having less black in front of the eye and on the nape.

"Immature.--Similar to the above, but there is a brownish tinge to the black on the nape; wing-coverts ash-gray; a dark line along the carpal joint; webs of the four outer primaries on both sides of the white shafts dark ash-gray (outermost black), outer webs of the tail-streamers also ash-colored.

"Young.--Forehead and crown buffish white, with black streaks which become confluent on nape; feathers of mantle and tail gray, barred with ash-brown and tipped with buff; primaries with a good deal of gray, which throws into strong relief their broad, white, inner margins. Bill ocher-yellow, horn-colored near the tip; toes yellowish brown.

"Nestling.--Above pale buff, spotted and streaked with black and umber-brown; beneath dull drab." (Saunders.)

Genus ANOUS Stephens, 1826.

This genus is distinguished by its brown plumage and graduated tail-feathers.

85. ANOUS STOLIDUS (Linnæus).

NODDY TERN.

Sterna stolida Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 137. Anous stolidus Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 25, 136; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 325, fig. 73; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 137; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1901), 1, 197; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 21.

Cagayan Sulu (McGregor); Palawan (Whitehead, Platen, McGregor). Tropical and juxtatropical seas of the world.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Forehead nearly white at base of bill, passing on the crown into lavender-gray, which deepens on neck into lead-color; lores and orbital region black, with a faint whitish superciliary streak; upper parts chiefly dark brown; primaries, tail-feathers, and their shafts nearly black; under parts dark brown on abdomen and breast, passing into deep lead-color on the throat. Bill blackish; tarsi and toes reddish brown, fully webbed, webs ochraceous. Length, about 406; culmen, 53; wing, 260 to 280; tail, 152 to 178, the fourth feather from the outside the longest; tarsus, 25; middle toe with claw, 39.

"Adult female.--Very similar but, as a rule, somewhat browner on the shoulders and with less lead-color on the throat, slightly smaller, and with a weaker bill.

"Immature.--Similar, but with even less lead-color, and a dark line along the upper wing-coverts.

"Young.--Browner generally and paler; forehead and crown grayish brown; below the forehead a narrow white superciliary line conspicuous by contrast against the blackish lores.

"Fledgling (Ascension I.).--Umber-brown above and below; the whitish streak above the lores very marked, and continuous round base of bill; a slight grayish tint on forehead.

"Downy nestling.--One about five days old (British Honduras: May 12, 1862) has the forehead and crown dull white, lores blackish, upper surface mouse-brown, nape and throat darkest, lower parts paler. Another, only just hatched, is nearly uniform, sooty brown." (Saunders.)

Subfamily LARINÆ.

Of larger size than the terns; body and bill heavier; tail square or nearly so.

Genus LARUS Linnæus, 1758.