nuptial plumage. On the Pacific side Mr, Salvin obtained
it in Guatemala.
The Gull-hilled Tern breeds in colonies on islands or sandbanks
in lagoons, and the~nests are merely slight hollows with
ai times, a few bits of seaweed or dry grass-for a lining.
Mr. Seebohm, who has visited large colonies at Missolonghi
and at Smyrna, says that two is the usual number oLeggs ;
frequently three, but never four. Their ground-colour is of
a greyish-white or yellow-ochre, occasionally of a pale greenish
tint which soon fades, blotched and spotted- with different
shades of brown; average measui:ements are 2 by h i in.
During the breeding-season its note resembles the syllables
cherdhi and at ;'othep: times it utters a laughing a f af, af,
like a Gull. The food of this species his somewhat varied;
in Ceylon, Gol, W. V. Legge found it to consist of . frogs,
crabs, and fish j in Egypt, Yon Heuglin observed the bird
darting into the dense smoke of a prairie fire in pursuit of
locusts ; and in Algeria Mr. Salvin noticed it hovering;* over
grass-fields and pouncing upon grasshoppers and beetles; it
also captures many species of insects on the wing, its
flight is graceful but not very rapid,vits long wings being
plied with measured steady strokes. In its! partiality for
lagoons, tidal rivers, and inland lakes of fresh or brackish
water, and in its comparatively short, although"- distinctly
forked tail, and moderately-webbed "feet^ this species forms
a natural link between the Marsh Terns and -those which
frequent the sea-coast. ?>It was made the type and sole
representative of the genus ,Kxelo$kvUdon,b y Brehm, who,,
very consistently, erected the genua SyJ/Q&heUdon: for the
Caspian Tem.
In the adult in summer the'bill is black, and .averages-f0ne
inch and a quarter in,length from the-point-to: the feathers
on the forehead; the angle at the-symphisis of the lower
mandible rather prominent, whence-the name GulLhJJfed ;
irides reddish-brown ; forehead, crown, and nape jest -black;
ijeck behind :greyish---white; back, scapulars, wings, the
CQverts,_^eqondaries, and tertials, upper taihcqverts, and,
central tail-feathers uniform pale ash-grey ;• outer tail-featherslighter;
the outside web of the first primary slate-grey, the
other primaries pearl-grey, darker at the tip s; chin, throat,
breast, belly, and all the under .surface white; legs, toes,
membranes, and claws reddish-black. The whole length of
the bird figured and described, fifteen inches and a half ;
wing from the carpal joint thirteen inches.
In winter the head is white, streaked with grey and
black, and. a dark stripe runs through the eye and ear-
coverts.
The male is, as a rule, rather larger than the female, but
there is great individual variation in size, especially as
regards the bill.“ "In, the latter the difference is more striking
in two individuals shot from the same flock in South
Brazil than in any other specimens in the large series which
the Editor has examined from various parts of the world.
young bird of the year has the bill brown ; head on the
top dull white, varied with pale" brown and dusky streaks;
on the ear-coverts a spot of greyish-black; neck all round
white; back, scapulars, and tertials orange-brown, spotted
with darker brown ; wing-coverts ash-grey, tipped with pale
^orange-buff; primaries pearl-grey'; tail but little forked;
chin, neck, and all the under surface of the body white ; legs
and feet brown. As in the other Terns, the orange-buff
markings are soon lost; and in this species there is no dark
bar on the carpal joint to indicate immaturity; the bill and
-legs are, however, lighter than in the adult in winter dress.
Even in birds of the'second year which have assumedJbhe
black crown,, fhe- legs and;feet- are still livid red in fresh
examples, drying a reddish-brown in preserved specimens.- *
- The nestling' in down is huffy-white, mottled and striped
with darker grey on>;the upper parts; under parts greyish-
white.