NESTS AXD EGGS OF AVSTRALLAN BIRDS. 85 I 



Observations. — This charming little species is an inhabitant of the seas 

 bordering the northern and eastern coasts of Australia, extending its 

 range eastward across the Pacific. 



Macgillivray sent beautiful specimens of eggs of the Grey Noddy to 

 Gould, but no locality is given. It was through the kindness of 

 Mr. F. M. Nobbs that I received a dozen of tluse rare eggs, collected on 

 islets off Norfolk Island, where they were taken from ledges of rocks in 

 cliffs or on bouldei-s. Date, 2nd November, 1886. 



The general breeding season is from September to January. 



Dr. Metcalfe's testimony is (Dr. Crowfoot, " Ibis," 1885) : " These 

 Grey Tenas, called by tlie Norfolk Islanders the ' Little Blue Petrel,' 

 are fairly nmiierous dimng the breeding season. They lay theu- eggs 

 on Phillip and Nepean Islands and the neighbouring rocks. Tlie eggs 

 are usually placed on inaccessible ledges, but often on the sand, sometimes 

 not many feet from the sea — but usually from eighty to two thousand 

 feet. They make no attempt at a nest and lay only one egg, which is 

 the most easily broken of all the sea-birds' eggs foimd on these islands." 



652. — Anous stolidus, Linna;us. — (613) 

 NODDY. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 34. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 136. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia (1848) ; 

 also Handbook, vol. ii., p. 416 (1865) ; *Sharpe : Trans. Roy. 

 Sec, vol. clxviii., p. 466 {1S7S) ; Legge : Birds of Ceylon, p. 

 1044 (1880) ; Crowfoot (Metcalfe) : Ibis, p. 264 (1885) ; North : 

 Austn. Mus. Cat., p. 359 and app., pi. 21, fig. 2 (18S9) ; Hume — 

 Oates : Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, vol. iii., p. 315 (1890). 



GeographicaJ Disfrihuliou. — Seas of Australia in general; also 

 tropical and sub-tropical seas. According to Saunders, breeding as a 

 nile where foimd. 



Ne.st. — Somewhat flat, constructed of twigs, sea^weed, sponges, &c., 

 and placed upon the ground or on low bushes (salt), tufts of gi-ass, &c. 

 In some locahties there is scarcely any nest — merely a few bits of herbage 

 mixed with animal dehris, such as bones, &c. Nests in great colonies, 

 usually in company with Sooty Terns (S. fuJigiiiosa), upon certain 

 islands. A fairly built nest measures 10 to 12 inches across by about 

 2 inches thick. 



Eggs. — Clutch, one ; elliptically inclined in shape ; textiu-e of 

 shell coarse ; surface without gloss ; coloiu", soft or pinkish-white, 

 mai-ked moderately, and chiefly on the apex, with loifous-brown and dvdl 

 purplish-brown. This egg may readily be distinguished from that of 

 the Sooty Tern by its coarser shell, softer markings, and by the dark-green 



' No dimensions given. 



