G72 



MEGALOPTERUS STOLIDUS. THE COMMON 

 NODDY. 



NODDY. 



Fig, 100. 



Sterna stolida. Linn. Syst. Nat. I. 227. 



Sterna stolida. Lath. Ind. Ornith. II. 805. 



Sterna stolida, Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim. 270. 



Hirondelle-de-mer Noddy. Sterna stolida. Temm. Man. d' Ornith. IV. 461, 



Noddy Tern. Tarr. Brit. Birds, III. 417. 



Bill rather stout; plumage sooty -brown ; primary quills 

 and tail-feathers brownish-black ,- upper part of the head pale 

 ash-grey; a black spot before the eye. 



Male in Summer. — Of a slender, elongated form, with the 

 neck rather short ; the head oblong. The bill rather longer 

 than the head, strong, nearly straight, compressed, very acute; 

 the dorsal line of the upper mandible arcuato-declinate be- 

 yond the middle, that of the lower commencing beyond the 

 middle, ascending, slightly concave ; the edges of both sharp 

 and inilexed, the tips acute. 



The mouth rather wide. Tongue an inch and a quarter 



