586 THE FEATHERED TRIBES. 



for flight bj' excessive fatigue or hunger. Some have imagined that the appearance of 

 the noddy at sea indicates the proximity of land ; but, in the manner of the common 

 tern, the}' adventure out to sea, and, like the mariner himself, the shelter of whose 

 fi'iendlj^ vessel thej^ seek, they often voyage at random for several days at a time, 

 committing themselves to the mercy of the boundless ocean ; and having at certain 

 seasons no predilection for places, when the climate suits, the roving flocks or stragglers 

 find equally a home on any coast, shoal, or i^sland." 



Mr. Audubon writes : " About the beginning of May the noddies collect from all parts 

 of the Gidf of Mexico and the coasts of Florida, for the purpose of returning to their 

 breeding places on one of the Tortugas, called Noddy Key. These birds form regular 

 nests of twigs and dry grass, which they place on the bushes or low trees, but never on 

 the groimd. On visiting their island on the 11th of Maj', 1832, I was surprised to see 

 that many of them were repairing and augmenting nests that had remained through the 

 winter, while others were employed in constructing new ones, and some wei-e already 

 sitting on their eggs. In a great many instances, the repaired nests formed masses 

 nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them had only a slight hollow for the eggs, 

 broken shells of which were found among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely 

 placed there. The birds did not discontinue their labours, although there were nine or 

 ten of us walking among the bushes ; and when we had gone a few yards into the thicket, 

 thousands of them flew quite low over us, some, at times, coming so close as to enable us 

 to catch a few of them with the hand. On one side might be seen a noddy carrying a 

 stick in its bill, or a bird picking up something from the ground to add to its nest ; on 

 the other, several were seen sitting on their eggs, unconscious of danger, while their mates 

 brought them food, The greater part rose on wing as we advanced, but re-alighted as 

 soon as we liad passed. The bushes were rarelj' taller than ourselves, so that we could easily 

 see the eggs in the nests. This was quite a new sight to me, and not less pleasing than 

 unexpected, The noddj', like other sijecies of terns, lays throe eggs, which a^■erage two 

 inches in length by an inch and three-eighths in breadth, and are of a reddish-yellow 

 colour, spotted and patched with dull red and faint purple. They afibrd excellent eating, and 

 our sailors seldom failed to collect bucketsful daily, during our staj' at the Tortugas. The 

 wreckers assured me that the young birds remain along with the old tlirough the winter, 

 in which respect the noddy, if this account be correct, differs from other species, the 

 young of which keep by themselves until spring. At the approach of a boat the noddies 

 never flew off their island, in the manner of the sooty terns. They ajipoared to go 

 further out to sea than those birds in search of their food, which consists of fishes mostly 

 caught amid the floating sca-wecds ; these terns seized them, not by plunging perpendicu- 

 larly downwards, as oilier species do, but bj' skinuniug close over tlio surface in the 

 manner of gulls, and also by alighting and swimming around the edges of the weeds. 

 This I had abundant opportunities of seeing while on the Gulf of Mexico, The flight of 

 this bird greatly resembles that of the night-hawk when passing over meadows or rivers. 

 When about to aliglit on the water, the noddy keeps its wings extended upwards, and 

 touches it first with its feet. It swims with considerable buoj'ancy and grace, and at 

 times immerses its head to seize on a fish. It does not sec well by night, and it is for 

 this reason that it frequently alights on the spiys of vessels, where it sleeps so soundly 

 that the seamen often catch them. "When seized in the lumd it utters a rough cry, not 

 unlike that of a young American crow taken from tlie nest. On such occasions it bites 

 severely, with quickly-repeated movements of the bill, which, on missing the object 

 aimed at, closes with a snap. Some wliich I kept several days refused all kinds of food, 

 became dull and langiiid, aud at length died," 



