Habits and Haunts of the Noio. 197 



and the Ulili {Totanus incarms) are its sole avian inhabi- 

 tants, save where the Myuah and the Domestic Dove have 

 established colonies in the faces of the cliffs. 



The shallow caverns eaten here and there into the bases of 

 the blnffs witli the more protected ledges are the chosen homes 

 of the Noddies. Within these rocky shelters they roost 

 securely at night, and there in summer they build their 

 nests and lay their spotted eggs on the flat, stony shelves. 

 The Noio is a very child of the ocean, and asks nothing 

 more than to pass its whole existence within the sound of the 

 surf-beaten shores. 



The habit of nesting in rock-shelters and upon ledges 

 of cliffs, long since noticed by Mr. Dole, is especially 

 remarkable, when it is remembered that Palmer, Mr. Roth- 

 schild's collector, found the bird breeding upon the ground 

 under bushes on Laysan and on other islands to the north-west 

 of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Evidently the Noio has been 

 able to conform its habits to its environment, and so lives and 

 thrives under conditions which have repelled all others of 

 the group. 



Unlike the Terns proper, this Noddy never dives or plunges 

 deeply into the water after its finny prey; with slow and 

 measured wing-beats it flies just above the surface of the 

 ocean, following the curving billows with prying eyes, and 

 turning sharply to the right or left to seize its booty with a 

 quick downward swoop. 



Its favourite food is a long, slim, silvery minnow, known 

 to the natives by the name of Noi Noi, in pursuit of which 

 it makes frequent excursions off land, companies of fifty 

 or more being often seen five or ten miles from the coast, 

 all actively engaged in fishing. In summer its presence 

 is eagerly watched for by the Hawaiian fishermen, since 

 where the Noio congregates, there also the Aku or " Skip- 

 jack " is sure to be found eagerly pursuing the same little 

 fishes. 



The surface of the Pacific near the islands is usually calm, 

 save for a long, majestic swell, or for troubled currents 

 among the surf-beaten rocks, and there the bird may be seen 



