100 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



feathers tipped with rufous, the back having slightly smaller tips ; tail tips worn 

 off ; underneath darker but more mottled with grey, especially the throat ; under 

 wing-coverts pure grey with whitish tips ; axillaries deep grey with darker tips ; 

 under tail-coverts dark grey with rufous tips. 



Nest. Lays a single egg on the bare ground beneath the thick scrub, or in the 

 open. 



Egg. Clutch, one ; ground-colour stone, spotted with rich chestnut (more 

 noticeable on the larger end), and small markings of grey or lavender ; axis 53-55, 

 diameter 35-36. Pure white eggs have been taken on the Kermadec Islands, where 

 great variation is seen. 



Breeding-season. November. (Lord Howe Island and Kermadec Islands.) 

 December and January. (Houtman's Abrolhos.) May and June. (Torres Strait.) 

 September to December. (Norfolk Island.) 



Distribution and forms. Throughout intertropical seas, Atlantic, Indian and 

 Pacific Oceans. Ma thews admitted four subspecies, but suggested more, and Ridg- 

 way has admitted one of these, so that five definite forms are at present accepted, 

 thus : O.f.fuscatus (Linne) from mid -Atlantic Ocean breeding on West Indies, etc. ; 

 O. f. infuscatus (Lichtenstein) for the Eastern Indian Ocean bird which has the 

 under parts faintly grey and the tail with less white on longest feathers ; 0. f. 

 serratus (Wagler) from East Australian seas with very long streamers, larger size 

 and deeper grey wash on under-surface (0. /. gouldi (Reichenbach) would be the 

 name of the West Australian race which seems smaller but more specimens must 

 be examined) ; O. f. oahuensis (Bloxham) from the Hawaiian Group, with long 

 streamers and grey under-surface but streamers not as white as O.f. serratus ; and 

 0. f. crissalis (Lawrence) from Pacific Coast of Central America, with shorter tail 

 and darker towards the ends. 



Genus MEGALOPTERUS. 



Megalopterus Boie, Isis, 1826, heft 10, col. 980, Oct. Type (by monotypy) : Sterna tenui* 



rostris Temminck et Laugier. 



Micranous Saunders, Bull. Brit. Ornith. Club, Vol. IV., p. 19, Jan. 29th, 1895. Type (by 



monotypy) : S. tenuiroftris Temminck et Laugier. 



Anousella Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. II., pt. 4, p. 412, Nov. 1st, 1912. Type (by original 



designation) : Anous leucocapillus Gould = ^4. minutus Boie. 



Medium-sized Noddies with long slender bills, long wings and tails, short legs 

 and long toes. The culmen is like that of Anous, but is longer and slenderer, being 

 longer than the head. The tail has the third or fourth rectrix from the outside 

 longest, the first being the shortest. The legs are shorter and fully webbed, with a 

 large hind-toe. 



Coloration all dark with a paler head and shoulders, which is seen in the immature 

 nestling. 



72. Megalopterus minutus. WHITE-CAPPED NODDY. 



Anous minutus Boie, Isis, 1844, heft 3, col. 188, March : North-east Australia. 



Anous leucocapillus Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1845, p. 103, Feb. 1846 : Raine Island, 



Queensland. 



Anous atrojuscus Stone, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., p. 117, June 5th, 1894 : New Guinea. 



Megalopterus minutus kermadeci Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. IIL.pt. 3, p. 55, April 7th, 



1916 : Kermadec Islands = Mackay, Queensland. 



DISTRIBUTION. East Australian Tropical Seas, New Guinea, 



Adult male. General colour above and below sooty -black ; entire wings darker 

 and more inclining to black ; tail dark plumbeous-grey ; crown of head white shading 

 ofi into grey on the nape and merging into the sooty-black of the mantle ; lores and 



