325 



G-enus ANGUS, Stephens, 1826. 



Bill long and slender, culmen considerably curved towards the 

 tip ; nostril in a groove, much farther from the base of the bill 

 than in Sterna ; tarsus short, ranch shorter than the middle toe 

 without claw ; feet large, toes fully webbed. Wing long, first 

 quill longest ; tail long, cuneate, the third or fourth pair of feathers 

 from the outside longest, considerably exceeding the outer feathers. 

 The whole plumage is very dark. 



The Noddies, as they are called, are a group of tropical oceanic 

 birds allied to the Terns, but having a much slower, heavier flight 

 and very different habits. They live in the open sea and settle on 

 the water to feed on floating mollusca or dead fish, or offal. In 

 the British Museum Catalogue they are divided into two genera, 

 Anous and Micranous ; but the differences are not great, and it is 

 more convenient to class the two species found in Indian seas in 

 one generic group. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Fourth pair of rectrices from outside longest ; 



bill stout, angle of lower mandible nearer 



to tip than to gape; crown grey ........ A. ttoKdus, p. 325. 



b. Third pair of rectrices from outside longest ; 



bill slender, angle of lower mandible equi- 



distant from tip and gape ; crown white . . A. leucocapillus, p. 320. 



1515. Anous stolidus. The Noddy. 



Sterna stolida, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 227 (1766). 



Anous stoiidus, Blyth, Cat. p. 293 ; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 845 ; Ball, 

 S. F. i, p. 90 ; Hume, S. F. ii, p. 320; iv, pp. 429, 478 ; Legge, 

 S. F. iv, p. 247 ; Butler, S. F. v, p. 301 ; Hume $ Dav. S. F. vi, 

 p. 493; Hume, Cat. no. 993 ; Legge, Birds Ceyl. p. 1043 ; Hume, 

 S. F. x, p. 247; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 434; id. in Hume's N. $ E. 

 2nd ed. iii, p. 315; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 433; Saunders, Cat. 

 B. M. xxv, p. 130. 



Fig. 73. Head of A. stolidus. . 



Coloration. Forehead and crown pale grey, passing on the nape 

 into greyish brown, and this again into the dark smoky or choco- 

 late-brown of the upper and lower surface generally ; lores black 

 above, passing into the dark leaden brown of the cheeks and 



