well, in whose collection the specimen now is, and the
Editor, interviewed the local bird-stuffer, who stated that he
mounted it ‘ from the flesh,’, and. they •• were convinced of the
truth of his assertion ; the evidence is not, however, sufficiently
perfect to warrant the introduction of this species as a
British bird. Bétails are given in The Zoologist’ for 1877
(p. 213). In case the. Smaller- Sooty Tern should again
wander to our coasts, it may be distinguished from the Booty
Tern by its somewhat smaller. size, more prolonged white
eye-streak, paler and ash-brown upper parts, and less perfectly
webbed feet. . Its geographical range* is nearly identical with
that of its larger congener, but .'the: two species are rarely, if
ever, found breeding in close proximity;: There is a'third
species, Sterna] lunata, ' Peale, characterized by slate-grey
upper parts, which appears to be restricted to Polynesia;
and Sterna, aleutica of: the Aleutian. Islands and- Alaska,
which has th e . head-pattern of the Sooty Terns, with the
long white tail of the Arctic and other typical species, forms
an interesting link between the: two groups. '
G A VIÆ. LAR IDÆ.
~ AN0u sy WbLihos (Linnaeus*). *
THE NODDY TEEN.
^Sterna "stolidat
Anous, Stephens ex than the head, rather slender,
with the culmen gradijsd^decuiw^dd'0 the tjp, which is acute, the lateral margin
slightly curved,; ,the jgojiys well apgp|8&i,; nostrils lateral, basal, placed
near the middle'of the:hill, ‘and longitudinal^ ‘ Wings long and pointed, - the first
giiill-feather slightly the longest. Tail long andcuneate, and slightly -.emarginate.
Tarsi rather short; the three .front toes united by a full web; hind toe small;
daws-strong and curved.-,,,
4^Dwo examples of this inter-trOpical Tern we,re r§coj:|pd by
the late William Thompson (Mag.' ZooL &,Bot. -l, jp.
as having been iobtainejr be't'weern tthp , Tusker Lighthouse
off the coast of Wexford, and Dublin Bay. They were
said to, have „been „taken- in the; summer -ahppfcifour years;
previous"to 1884,- by,ihsicaptain of a vegsel,who4>r$ught them
to ~Mr. Williarp.<MasEey, of ithe. Pigeon- House, a-name associated
with the capture ofrseserab'ofibe rarest Irish birds ;
and one of,.these examples,.now jh - the ^ eience .and Art
gjj * Sterna' stolida; Linnaeus, §yst. Nat. Ed;'12, i.'p^227^(l7fifiM *
t Shawss General- Zoology? xliL ^pt/^ p. gBjjjS