



162 



rocks, but sometimes deposits a single egg on the bare sand. In form the eggs are nearly true 

 ovals, being but slightly tapered at one end, of a dull creamy white ground colour, being 

 sparingly freckled and spotted with faint reddish-brown and slaty-grey markings, the latter 

 colour predominating in some instances, and appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; 

 others have short, thick, wavy markings, resembling ill-shapen letters and figures, equally dis- 

 tributed over the surface of the shell, which, although not thickly disposed, yet are in some 

 places confluent and more indistinct." 



An egg of this species of Noddy, received from the Kermadecs, is of a regular ovoido-conical 

 form, and creamy-white, with some widely scattered dots of pale brown, many of these beino- 

 quite obscure as if under the surface. It measures 1'65 in. by 1*2. in. 



Mr. Cheeseman, in his paper on the birds of the Kermadec Islands, writes : — 



This was one of the commonest sea-birds at the time of my visit in 1887, and was especially plentiful on 

 the outlying rocks. During our stay we landed two or three times on Meyer Island, and on each occasion 

 almost every ledge on the cliffs near the landing place was occupied by these birds, which watched our pro- 

 ceedings with the greatest curiosity. Small flocks of them would every now and then leave their resting- 

 places, fly backwards and forwards over our heads, noisily screaming all the time, and then return to their 

 quarters, to be quickly imitated by another party. They were quite tame, allowing us to approach within a 

 few feet. On discharging a gun clouds of them rose in the air, circling or wheeling about in the utmost con- 

 fusion, but they soon quieted down. . . . According to Mr. Bell, they breed in October and November, 

 selecting ledges on the faces of the cliffs. No nest whatever is made, the single egg being deposited in a 

 slight natural hollow. One sent to me measures 1/7 in. by 1/1 in. In colour it resembles that of Micranous 

 leucocapillus, but is slightly darker, and the spots are much smaller and more numerous. 



Order LAEIFOEMES.] 



[Family LAEIDiE. 



ANOUS STOLIDUS. 



(COMMON NODDY.) 



Anous stolidus, Linn. ; Cheeseman, Trans. N. Z. Inst., xxiii., p. 222. 



Me. Cheeseman includes this species among those breeding on the Kermadec Islands. This 

 might have been expected, as this Noddy has a wide range, and large breeding stations exist 

 on Norfolk Island and in the Tonga group. 



I do not possess any New-Zealand killed specimens, but there is an example in the 

 Canterbury Museum which was taken on the high seas, not very far from our coasts. 



The following entry is from my diary for 1893 : 



March 24th. — To-day, when about a hundred and forty miles from Rio, in lat. 29° 25' S., and long. 

 45° 53' W., a Noddy {Anous stolidus) came up to us, and, after hovering about for some time with a 

 beautiful hawk-like flight, alighted on the ship. From the absence of white on the crown, it was evidently a 

 young bird, and it was so tame and fearless that I actually touched it with my hand before it took flight 

 again. 



