from Wester)i Australia. 201 
65. Angus stolidus^ Noddy. (Hall's Ke}^, p. 89.) 
I visited one large '' rookery " on Pelsart Island proper^ 
where some two thousand Noddies were assembled (21.10.99). 
They had not begun to lay their eggs, although it was past 
the usual date. Mr. Beddoes tells me that this species is the 
earliest Tern to lay on the Houtman^s Abrolhos, and that 
August 9th is the earliest record which he has of their doing 
so. The *' hovering as bees " only occurs at the initial stage, 
but it starts again when the young are being taught to fly. 
The teaching lasts from fourteen to tuenty-one days. The 
young struggle in from the sea at all hours of the day, 
but the parents arrive en masse during the evening. My 
experience with them was very quiet, because they were 
assembled in a single colony upon the salt-bushes and u])on 
the bare ground near them. Encouraging some of them to 
move on simply meant that they rose before us like a 
cloud such as few people have seen— -a mass of quickly-flying 
bodies in revolution and unuiethodical action. Fishermen 
watch for this sign, and onslaughts upon the eggs soon after 
follow. It has been observed that by marking off a section 
of a rookery and taking the eggs, a second and subsequent 
laying ensues, contrary to what happens if the birds are 
undisturbed. This season the Noddy had not begun to lay 
bv October 21st, and it was remarked that the sensitive bird 
liad been made more so by the deprc dations of wild cats, once 
introduced to subdue the rats. Although the eggs of the 
two species are externally too much alike to be distinguished 
from one another, there is a difl'erence in the yolks : that 
of the Sooty has a deep red yolk, while that of the Noddy 
has a yellowish one. 
Among the four thousand Sooty Terns breeding on Rat 
Island, 21.10.99, 1 found only two nests of the Noddy. One 
was large, and measured eleven inches across, the bowl being 
3'5 inches in diameter. It was made of marine weeds, salt- 
bush twigs, and light filamentous sponges. Both nests were 
placed on the tops of Salsolacea, some three feet from the 
ground, upon which the eggs of the " Sooty ^^ were very 
numerous. 
