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HY DROCHELIDON LEUCOPAREIA.
Whiskered Tern.

Sterna hybrida, Pall. Zoog. Ross.-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 338.

leucopareia, Natt., Temm. Man. d’Orn., 1820, tom. ii. p- 746.

Delamotta, Vieill. Ency. Méth. Orn., part i. p. 350.

Viralva indica, Steph. Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xiii. p. 171.
leucopareia, Steph. ibid., vol. xiii. p. 169.

Pelodes leucopareia, Kaup, Natiirl. SVsteyoalOize

Hydrochelidon leucopareia, Boie.

 

 

hybrida, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 660, Hydrochelidon, sp.

—

 

Why Pallas should hav i ; . Sa
2 1 have named this well-defined species Aybrida I am at a loss to imagine; I must therefore

dissent from those of my contemporaries who persist in perpetuating, on the score of priority, such a
misnomer ; surely the laws of nomenclature are not so rigid as to demand that an appellation so singularly
inappropriate shall not give place to the better one of leucopareia, applied to the bird by the late John
Natterer, and which, like my friend Schlegel and some other scientific writers, I adopt. ‘It is: true that
the bird possesses certain characters which would seem to unite Hydrochelidon to Sterna; but these
relate to colour rather than to structure; a moment’s glance at its feet will show its true position; and on
investigation it will be found that its entire actions and economy assimilate to those of the Marsh- rather
than to those of the Sea-Terns.

The characters by which it is most nearly allied to the members of the genus Sterna are the possession of
a black cap in summer, a portion of which disappears in winter, and the whiteness of the face ; the under
surface is suffused with bluish black during the summer months, a style of colouring common to all the
Marsh-Terns ; these peculiarities in its colouring are of much interest as proving the Whiskered Tern to
be distinct from both Hydrochelidon nigra and H. leucoptera.

The Hydrochelidon leucopareia is justly entitled to a place in our avifauna; for it has been several times
killed in our island, both in its youthful light and in its mature black livery ; one in the former state was obtained
at Scilly, while the specimen which, through Dr. Heysham’s instrumentality, came into the possession of Mr.
Yarrell, another obtained in Ireland, and a third kindly sent to me by Mr. Gatcombe, are in the latter dress.
The British Islands are not, and never have been, one of the true homes of the bird; those homes lie far
south and east of them, for they are the fluviatile marshes and inland waters of the countries bordering the
Mediterranean, in Hungary, and in the Crimea. The bird appears in Malta in spring and autumn, but,
according to Wright, is not common. The individuals that are then seen are doubtless on their passage to
and from Algeria to Southern Europe. It frequents all the great lakes and swamps of North Africa, and is
probably common in all parts of that country and thence eastward to the Nile, in Persia, India, and ae
The Rev. Mr. Tristram, speaking of the bird as seen by him in North Africa, ander the name of Sterna hybrida,
says :—‘« Hundreds of lovely Terns were hovering about or dipping headlong into the dark uN water of Lake
Halloula. I shot several, and found most of them to be the Whiskered Tern (Sterna hybrida) ; but mingled
with them were many of the Black and Lesser Terns GS. nigra and S. minuta). Sterna PEE is easily
distinguished by its note, which is less shrill and more rapidly repeated than ee Nghe
general appearance it very closely resembles the SS. arctica, so familiar on our own Now ae Han coas am :
its lake-red bill and feet and its black head. Searching for the nesting-place of the Terns, I was surprise
f Whiskered Terns (S. /Aybrida) breeding in the nests of Eared Grebes, and that
aired the nests, which could have been only a few days evacuated by
Eared Grebes paddling about and living in the open air
a decided tendency to pale green as the ground-
though somewhat approaching the

to find the whole colony o
apparently without having at all rep
their constructors, as we saw hundreds of young
with their parents. My series of eggs of §. hybrida shows
shable from that of any other Tern,
ch smaller, and only exceptionally of a greenish ground.
A favourite food with these birds

colour, and a type clearly distingu
character of §. /eucoptera, which, however, are mu 7 .
i arly as |: i eooes of the Common fern.
ee vin i a M * Rar d the neighbouring marshes at this time in thousands.
* o ¢ e : Tr e 5
a large he caterpillar, which cover g
appeared to be a large hairy

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