436 BIRDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 



The second of the Noddies described by Dr. Jerdon is evidently refer- 

 able to the present species ; for he refers the reader to the 36th plate of 

 Gould's ' Birds of Australia/ where A. leucocapillus is beautifully figured. 

 Dr. Jerdon states that it occurs in the Bay of Bengal ; and Mr. Hume 

 identifies with the present bird a specimen contained in the Indian Museum 

 at Calcutta from the mouth of the Ganges. He also records it from the 

 northern portion of the Indian Ocean. 



The White-headed Noddy has a smaller range than the two preceding 

 species, being confined almost entirely to the seas of Australia and New 

 Guinea, but wandering, as all these sea-birds do, to considerable distances 

 from its usual haunts. 



Other species of Noddies are : 



A. melanogenys, similar to A. tenuirostris in general appearance ; the 

 whole plumage is a dark chocolate-brown ; the forehead and crown clear 

 greyish white, shading off into the nape and hind neck; lower eyelid 

 white ; a small squarish patch behind the eye, lores and face black : wing 

 8-8 inches, tail 4'8. 



A. c&ruleus has the whole head and neck and lower plumage white; the 

 wings, tail and back grey. It is of strikingly different appearance from 

 all the other Noddies. 



Genus EHYNCHOPS, Linn. 



775. RHYNCHOPS ALBICOLLIS. 

 THE INDIAN SKIMMER. 



Rhynchops albicollis, Swains. Anim. in Menay. p. 360 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 847 ; 

 Hume, Nests and Eyc/s, p. 656 ; id. S. F. iii. p. 193 ; Bl. B. Burm, p. 164 ; 

 Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 472 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi. p. 493 ; Hume, 

 S. F. viii. p. 116 ; Oates, S. F. x. p. 247. 



Description. Male and female. Crown, nape, back, rump, scapulars and 

 wing-coverts sooty brown ; upper tail-coverts white at the sides, the longer 

 central feathers brown on the inner web, white on the outer ; tail white, 

 the central pair of feathers brown on the inner web ; primaries dark brown, 

 the later ones tipped with whitish ; secondaries very broadly tipped with 

 white ; tertiaries broadly margined with white ; forehead, face, sides and 

 back of the neck and the whole lower plumage pure white. 



Bill bright red, turning yellow at the tip of both mandibles ; iris dark 

 brown ; legs bright red ; claws blackish horn-colour. 



