STEENID^ GYGIS 447 



This genus was formed for the reception of three Noddies, 

 distributed over tropical and subtropical seas. One of these will 

 not improbably be found in South African waters. 



772. Micranous leucocapillus. Lesser Noddy. 



Anous leucocapillus, Gould, P. Z. 8. 1845, p. 103 ; id. B. Austr. vii, pi. 



36 (1848) ; Beichenotv, Vog. Afr. i, p. 75 (1900). 

 Micranous leucocapillus, Saunders, Cat. B. M. xxv, p. 145 (1896). 



Description. Adult. — Forehead and crown greyish white, rest 

 of the plumage very dark brown becoming quite black in a ring 

 round the eye. 



Iris brown; bill black; legs brown. Length about 14-0; wing 

 8-8 ; tail 4-0 ; culmen 1-80 ; tarsus 'QO. The sexes are alike ; the 

 immature birds have the forehead, crown and lores white and the 

 neck and nape sooty black. 



Distribution. — The Lesser Noddy has much the same range as 

 the Common Noddy, being found throughout the tropical and sub- 

 tropical seas of the world. It breeds on Ascension and Inaccessible 

 Island near Tristan da Cunha and will probably be found to occur 

 off the South African Coasts. 



Genus V. GYGIS. 



Type. 

 Gygis, Wagler, Ms, 1832, p. 1223 G. Candida. 



Bill stout at the base and pointed, culmen straight or even 

 slightly upcurved ; tail forked but the outer pair of feathers con- 

 siderably shorter than the next or third pair which are the longest ; 

 tarsus very short, about half the length of the middle toe and claw ; 

 web between the toes strongly incised, leaving the distal joint quite 

 free. 



Two species of this genus have been described — the one widely 

 spread over intertropical seas, the other confined to the Marquesas 

 Islands of the Pacific. The former probably occurs in South 

 African waters. 



