.14 



AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 



ORDER IX. — LARTFORMES. 



F. 32. LARIDAE (21), TERNS, NODDIES, GULLS, Skim- 

 mers, 125 sp.— 32(13)A., 35(3)0., 45(1)P., 42(6)E., 

 43(5)Nc, 46(19)N1. 

 2 64 Whiskered Tern (Marsh), Hydrochelidon fluviatilis 

 4 (hybrida), Eur. (Br.) to China, Malay, Afr. to A. 



r. swamps (inland) 

 Head black; upper, wings, tail light-gray; face, "throat, 

 tail white; chest dark-gray; abdomen black; bill blood- 

 red; winter, head grayish-white; f., sim. Water- 

 insects, small fish. 



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bird as he disappears in the hollow between the waves, and catch 

 him again as he rises over the crest; but how he rises, and whence 

 comes the propelling force, are to the eye inexplicable; he alters 

 merely the angle at which the wings are inclined. . . ." 



Gould considered that many of these birds circumnavigate the 

 globe many times. They follow ships for days together. 



Albatrosses are sometimes caught by those on board ship. 

 One means of protection employed by these birds is to discharge a 

 considerable quantity of oily matter at an intruder. This has 

 led sailors to declare that the bird is "seasick." Some claim that 

 this is not done for protection, but is due to fright. 



The members of the Australasian Ornithologists' Union, when 

 on a trip in the Manawatu to the Bass Strait Islands found it 

 tantalizing to see the beautiful Shy Albatrosses sitting on their 



