Total length, L8 inches; tail. 5 inches; wing, 8* inolies; tarsi, g inch; middle toe and nail, 



i ! inch. 



Habitats; Like the Lesser Noddy, this species is found in great abundance on the small 

 sandy islets of Torres Straits and at Houtman's Abrolhos, off the coast of Western Australia, these 

 two places being the greatest breeding grounds; other nurseries, however, exist in some of the low- 

 Iving ••oral islands of Polynesia, and also in the Indian Ocean. 



A NOUS STOLIDUS. 



NODDY TERN. Genus: Anous. 



r 1^11 IS species in habits and general mode of life resembles in almost every particular the preceding 

 | one, excepl that in the mode of nidification more care is manifested than is displayed by the 

 Lesser Noddy and the Sooty Tern in constructing a shallow nest of small twigs or dried grass, 

 intermixed with which are fragments of coral, mussel shells, and occasionally pieces of turtle and fish 

 hones. The whole nest is, however, built in a very slovenly manner, and in many instances this bird 

 appears to favour the ground in preference to the labour, trifling as it is, of making a nest in the 

 mangrove : a tuft of grass or lump of seaweed in this case answers all requirements. 



Should any of the birds be following a ship as night approaches, they will invariably alight 

 on the yards to sleep, even though land may be within a few miles, and may then be easily captured, 

 hut not without biting savagely with the bill and scratching violently with the sharp claws to such 

 a degree as to make it unsafe to be held by an unguarded hand. From this habit of sleeping on 

 the spars of a ship is derived the name of " Noddies," given to this and other species of the family 

 bv sailors : if left undisturbed on their perch they will sleep on until the return of day. 



An abundant supply of food is procured on the reefs, particularly at low water, such as 

 cuttle-fish, small mollusca and medusae. This species seldom ranges far out to sea unless a shoal of 

 small fish be discovered, when vast numbers will flock thither, and, sustaining themselves just above 

 the surface of the water, by quick movements of the head seize their prey. 



During the period of incubation the birds do not show the slightest fear of man, and those 

 building on the branches of the mangroves will suffer themselves to be lifted off their nests and placed 

 on the ground without attempting to fly away, and, indeed, will remain sitting there with the most 

 appan nt indifference whilst their nests are being examined or the eggs taken away. But for the presence 

 of the small lizard before alluded to in describing A. Melanops, these birds would increase overwhelmingly 

 every breeding season, and Gilbert states, as the result of close observation when he visited the 

 rookeries on Houtman's Abrolhos, that he was satisfied that not more than one of every twenty birds 

 reached maturity, or lived long enough to wing its way to the ocean ; these lizards do not eat the 

 whole of the young bird, only extracting the brain and vertebral marrow. 



One egg onlv is laid, and herein lies the great distinction between the Noddies of the northern 

 and southern hemispheres; by the former, according to most ornithologists, three eggs are laid, and 

 by the latter only one. After a minute comparison. Mr. Coues was still undecided as to whether the 

 Pacific and North American birds were distinct, but rather than unnecessarily multiply the number of 

 specific designations he has also described this species under the old name of Stolidus. 



