STEMEULA IKLADJEES 9 Gould/.
STERNULA PLACENS, Gould.
Torres-Straits Tern.
Stemula placens, Gould, Ann. Nat. Hist. [4] viii. p. 192 (1871).
A s i n g l e example of this species has been in my collection for many years ; but I hesitated to describe it
until 1871, when I received from Mr. Waterhouse, the Curator o f the Adelaide Museum, a second
individual. I carefully compared these materials with the Australian Stemula nereis and the European
Stemula minuta, as well as with its allies inhabiting North and South America; and with none of these
did it agree. Its nearest ally seemed to be the European sp ecies; hut from this it differs in having
considerably longer wings, in the snow-white hue of the shafts o f the primaries, and in the larger and well-
defined mark o f black on the tips o f the mandibles. From S . nereis it is distinguished by having black
instead o f white lores.
I t is now nearly five years since I placed the description of this little T ern before the scientific world, and
as yet I have seen no attempt to reconcile the species with any one previously described. But it would be
unfair to my friend Mr. Howard Saunders, who is making the family o f Larid/s his especial study, if I did
not admit th at he has privately given me his opinion th at my supposed new species may ultimately prove to
be the Sterna sinensis of Grnelin. At present, however, he is not quite prepared to assert this positively ;
and therefore, in view of the different opinions a t present prevailing in the mind o f one amongst our best
authorities, I have deemed it not unadvisable to give a careful figure o f the bird, to aid in the further
disentanglement o f the question. A t the same time there would be nothing extraordinary in the fact o f a
Chinese Tern wandering into Australian waters, as the range o f the species, even then, would be small
compared with th at o f some o f the allied species—to wit, Stemula minuta See.
The following is the description published (/. e.) :—
A dult male.— Bill yellow, with the apical third o f both mandibles black, as sharply defined as if they had
been dipped in ink ; forehead white, advancing over each eye to near its posterior a n g le ; lores, a narrow
line above the eyes, crown, and nape b lack ; upper surface o f the body and wing-coverts g r e y ; the first
primary slaty black on the outer web, and along the inner web next the sh a ft; the shaft itself and the outer
half o f the inner web w h ite ; the second primary similarly but a little less strongly m a rk e d ; the remainder
o f the primaries silvery grey, with lighter sh a fts ; th ro at and all the under surface o f the body silky wh ite;
tail w h ite ; feet yellow.
Total length 10 inches, bill from gape I f , wing 7h, tail 4 f , tarsi f .
Hab. Torres Straits.
T h e figure given in the Plate is taken from a male, and is o f the natural size.