102 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Nest.—Constructed of seaweed, thrown across the branch, without any regard 
to form, until it has accumulated to a mass varying from two to four inches in 
height. 
Egg.—Clutch, one ; ground-colour dull white, a ring round the larger composed 
of dark brown blotches, a few spots of this colour and others of light grey sparingly 
placed over the rest of the surface ; axis 43-46, diameter 29-31. 
Breeding-season.—September to December. 
Distribution and forms.—Apparently Indian Ocean only. Two forms have been 
recognised : IM. t. tenwirostris (Temminck and Laugier) from the Seychelles, and 
MM. t. melanops (Gould) from West Australia, differing in its smaller size. 
Genus ANOUS. 
Anous Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. 1., p. 139, Feb. 18th, 1826 (ex Leach 
MS.). Type (by subsequent designation, Gray, p. 79, 1840): A. niger Stephens = S. stolida 
Linné. 
Stolida Lesson, Traité d’Orn., 8¢ livr., p. 620, June 11th, 1831. Type (by monotypy) : 
S. stolida Linné. 
Gavia Swainson, Classif. Birds, Vol. II., p. 373, July lst, 1837. Type (by monotypy): Gavia 
leucoceps Swainson = Sterna stolida Linné. 
Not Gavia Forster, Enchirid. Hist. Nat., p. 38, 1788. 
Aganophron Gloger, Hand- u. Hilfsb. Naturg., livr. 8, p. 463, (early) 1842, Type (by mono- 
typy): S. stolida Linné. 
Noddi “ Cuvier ’’ Gray, Genera Birds, Vol. III., p. 661, Jan. 1846. In synonymy of Anous. 
“ Nodinus Rafin.?’’ Gray, Cat. Gen. Subgen. Birds, p. 131, Oct. 1855. In synonymy of 
Anous. 
This and the preceding genus of the Sternide are characterised by the nature 
of the bills and especially the formation of the tail. In no case are the outer rectrices 
developed into streamers, but in some genera they are absolutely the shortest. 
Largest Noddies with long stout bills, long wings and tails (though no streamers 
are present), short legs but long toes. 
The culmen is as long as the head, stout, broad at the base, much longer than 
the tarsus. The nostrils are placed in a deep sulcus which extends almost half the 
length of the bill, and the anterior end of the nostril is about half way from the base 
of the bill to the tip. The tail is long, more than half the length of the wing, forked, 
but the fourth pair of feathers from the outside is the longest, while the outside pair 
is the shortest ; the middle pair is longer than the pair next the outside, but shorter 
than the third pair from the outside, which is subequal with the fifth pair. The 
toes are long and fully webbed, the inner and outer long and little less than the 
middle one. 
Coloration uniformly blackish-brown, with a pale whitish cap. 
74. Anous stolidus.—NODDY. 
[Sterna stolida Linné, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 137, Jan. Ist, 1758: Atlantic Ocean. Extra- 
limital.] 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 34 (pt. xx1.), March Ist, 1846. Mathews, Vol. II., pt. 4, pl. 115, Nov. 
Ist, 1912. 
Anous stolidus gilberti Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 4, p. 405, Nov. Ist, 1912: Bedout 
Island, West Australia. 
Anous stolidus antelius Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. III., pt. 6, p. 159, June 25th, 1918: 
Cooktown, North Queensland. 
DIsTRIBUTION.—Tropical Australian Seas. 
Adult male—General colour above and below sooty-brown, inclining to black 
on the bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills; head and nape hoary-white ; 
lores blackish, the short feathers encircling the eye white on the upper and under 
