ANGUS. ;337 



Septeiiiber and the lour followiiif; inontlis constitute the usual breeding season on the islets 

 adjacent to Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. 



Anous stolidus. 



NODDY. 



Slenia sfoliiln, Linn., AiiKt-n. Acad., Tom. IV., p. 210 (17")'.)). 



Anoii.t sfolidus, Gould, I5ds. Austr., fol. Vol. VIL, pi. .'A (1848); id., Handbk. Bd.s. Au.str., Vol. 

 II., p. 413 {1SG5) ; Saunders, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p. 136 (1S9G) ; Sharpe, 

 Hand-1. Bds., Vol. I., p. 137 (1899). 



Adult malk, in lireedinj^ plumage. — General co/mir ulion', inclmliiiij the wiiujfi, ilnll. chocolate- 

 broirn, till' jiriinaries Ij/ackisJi lirotvn,' cmitral fail-feat/fm ilalJ chocoliiti' lira/vn, tJie remaiiKter blarkish- 

 broicii : forehead and croivn uf/he head lacender-yrey, lite Idiid-neck si/.l/'ased ivith laveuder-c/rey ; a 

 narroir ivliitish liiie extends around the base of tJie upper mandible nad nhmy the sides of the forehead ; 

 before and. above lite anleri.or /lortion of the etje a smalt black patch, fillo/ved bi/ a short white line 

 abore and a lonyer ivhite line lieloiii the eije ; remainder of the plutnaye dull chocolate-brown., the 

 cheeks, sides of head, throat and npper part of fore-neck slightly waslted ivith laeender-grey ; bill 

 black ; legs ami feet reddisli-brouni, clans black ; iris brown. Total length in the jlesh 1H.5 indies, 

 iving l(l-.'i, tail <1 7'>, bill V-_>, tarsus 1'05. 



Adui.'I' kkmalk, in breeding plumage. — Resembles the male. 



Diityihntion. — Western Australia, North-western Australia, Northern Territory, (Queensland, 

 New South Wales, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. 



/T^HL Noddy frequents the coasts, seas and adjacent islets of the greater portion of 

 -L Western, Northern and Eastern Australia; also Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. 

 Gilbert found it breeding in immense numbers on Houtman Abrollios, lying about forty miles 

 to the west of Champion Bay, Western Australia, where also Mr. C. G. Gibson found large 

 numbers nesting on Pelsart Island and Kat Island in November, 1907. In North-western 

 Australia Mr. Tom Carter observed it in immense flocks about Fraser Island and Point Cloates. 

 It is abundant on the islands of Torres Strait, where the late Mr. J. MacGillivray found it 

 breeding on Bramble Cay, also on Raine Islet, to the north-east of the Great Barrier Reef, 

 Northern Queensland, and Dr. W. Macgillivray, in October, igio, found it nesting freely in one 

 of the islands of the Howick Group. Farther south Mr. A. F. Smith found it breeding in 

 November, 1904, on Upolo Reef and Oyster Cay, opposite the entrance to the Russell River, 

 in company with Sto'iia bcr^ii, S. media and S. fidif^inoiii. It does not appear to occur in Southern 

 Queensland waters, neither does it occur on the coast or islands of New South Wales, e.xcept 

 as a straggler. Mr. Percy H. Norton procured a specimen on Sydney Harbour, in April, 1890, 

 which he presented to the Trustees of the Australian Museum, and it has been mounted, 

 and is e.^hibited in the Bird Gallery. During twenty-seven years connection with the institution 

 this is the only instance that has come under my notice of its occurrence in the State. 



During a visit to Lord Howe Island in October, igio, this species was more sparingly 

 distributed than Sterna fidi^iiwsa, whether flying low over the water, or fishing in the lagoon 

 within the reef on the western side of the island, or breeding in company with this species and Sida 

 serrator, on Great Admiralty Rock on the north-eastern end of the island. On the 15th October, 

 1910, on Great Admiralty Rock, I found the Noddy breeding on bare ground or rock, near the 

 edge of the cliff's, in some instances partially sheltered with grass tufts or low bushes, with only 

 a little debris scraped around the single egg on which the bird was sitting. They were breeding 



85 



