Sterna fuscata Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12 (1766), 1, 228. [12]
Sterna fuliginosa Saunders, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 25,
106; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 136; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs
(1901), 1, 191; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 21.
Siquijor (Bourns & Worcester). Tropical and juxtatropical seas
of the world.
"Adult in breeding plumage.--Similar to S. anæstheta; but larger,
white frontal-band and superciliary stripe broader, the latter oblique
and not reaching beyond eye, from which it is separated by a narrow
continuation of the black loral stripe; upper surface sooty black,
the wedges on inner webs of primaries a trifle paler than the rest;
streamers dull white on the outer webs, remaining tail-feathers sooty
black; under tail-coverts, abdomen, and flanks grayish white; breast
and throat white. Bill and feet black with a slightly reddish tinge,
the web between middle and inner toe nearly full, and far less excised
than in S. anæstheta. Length, about 430; culmen, 53; wing, 298; tail,
about 190; depth of fork, 102; tarsus, 23; middle toe with claw, 28.
"Adult in winter.--Like the above, with white flecks on the lores
and crown.
"Immature.--Brownish black above, darker on the upper wing-coverts;
outer tail-feathers nearly as sooty black as the rest of the rectrices,
except toward the tips; tarsi and toes reddish brown.
"Nestling and young.--The chick when about three days old is streaked
with grayish brown and dull white on the upper surface, darkest on
the forehead, and chiefly stone-white below; when half fledged, the
feathers of the mantle are blackish, with broad white tips, which
gradually wear down. When the bird is fully fledged these white tips
are much narrower, the feathers of the upper parts are sooty brown,
and the under parts are also somewhat paler brown, becoming lighter
toward the vent. (In S. anæstheta the under parts are whitish). Bill
and feet reddish brown." (Saunders.)