ANors. 315 



as numerous, in some eggs more so, and average larger ; they are 

 a delicate pale lilac-grey. The shape is typical, moderately broad 

 ovals, decidedly pointed towards the small end. The shell is very 

 fine, but quite glossless. 



Mr. H. Parker writes of this species : " June (Adam's Bridge). 

 There were several nests o this Tern on various banks. They 

 were barely above high- water mark ; one was below it. Two of 

 the birds settled on the nests while I was near. The mean 

 dimensions of 20 eggs are 1*21 inch by 0-94. I observed all the 

 birds carefully, but saw no S. saundersi." 



In Ceylon this species, according to Colonel Legge, breeds from 

 June to August. 



Normally the eggs of this species are long ovals, distinctly 

 pointed at one end. There is a regular gradation in size and 

 shape in the eggs of S. seena, S. melanogastra, and S. sinensis. The 

 first are much the largest and roundest, the next are smaller and 

 more oval, the last are smaller still and most elongated of all. 

 The ground-colour varies much, but the two commonest shades 

 are a very pale drab colour (with, when fresh, a faint greenish 

 tinge) and a warm cafe-au-lait colour. All kinds of intermediate 

 shades, creamy, buffy, and greyish stone-colours, occur, but the 

 commonest are those first described. The markings, as usual in 

 these Terns, consist of streaks, blotches, and spots of different 

 shades of deep brown, with underlying clouds and spots of faint 

 inky purple. As a rule, the markings in this species are, I think, 

 bolder, larger, and more streaky than those of S. melanogastra, 

 which are smaller and more niggling. The eggs as a rule are 

 entirely destitute of gloss. 



In length the eggs vary from 1*15 to 1/3, and in breadth from 

 0-88 to 1-01 ; but the average of a large series is 1-25 by 0-94. 



Anous stolidus (Linn.). The Common Noddy. 



Anous stolidus (Linn.}, Jerd. B. Ind. ii ; p. 845 ; Hume, Cat. 

 no. 993. 



We found this species breeding in great numbers on the Cher- 

 baniani reef, but saw it nowhere else in the group. When we 

 visited the reef in the second week in February, the birds had 

 only just begun to lay, and we only procured a few quite fresh 

 eggs. 



The few eggs that I secured were barely, if at all, separable 

 from those of S. fuliyinosa, except that they seem to average some- 

 what larger, and to be somewhat more elongated in shape and 

 more richly coloured. 



I only secured eight, and these are all more elongated and more 

 decidedly pointed than the great majority of the eggs of S. fuligi- 

 nosa. The markings, too, in some specimens are perhaps some- 

 what more brightly coloured than in any of the eggs of this latter 



