436 
BIKDS OF BRITISH BURMAH. 
The second of the Noddies described by Dr. Jerdon is evidently refer- 
able to the present species ; for he refers the reader to the 36th plate of 
Gould''s ' Birds of Australia/ where A. leucocapillus is beautifully figured. 
Dr. Jerdon states that it occurs in the Bay of Bengal; and Mr. Hume 
identifies with the present bird a specimen contained in the Indian Museum 
at Calcutta from the mouth of the Ganges. He also records it from the 
northern portion of the Indian Ocean. 
The White-headed Noddy has a smaller range than the two preceding 
species_, being confined almost entirely to the seas of Australia and New 
Guinea^ but wanderings as all these sea-birds do, to considerable distances 
from its usual haunts. 
Other species of Noddies are : — 
A. melanogenys, similar to A. tenuirostris in general appearance ; the 
whole plumage is a dark chocolate-brown ; the forehead and crown clear 
greyish white, shading off into the nape and hind neck ; lower eyelid 
white ; a small squarish patch behind the eye, lores and face black : wing 
8*8 inches, tail I'S. 
A. caruleus has the whole head and neck and lower plumage white; the 
wings, tail and back grey. It is of strikingly diff'erent appearance from 
all the other Noddies. 
Genus RHYNCHOPS, Unn, 
lib. EHYNCHOPS ALBICOLLIS. 
THE INDIAN SKIMMER. 
Rhynchops albicoUis, Sivams. Anim. in Menag. p. 360 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 847 ; 
Hume, Nests and Eygs, p. 656 ; id. S. F. iii. p. 19^3 ; Bl. B. Burm. p. 164 ; 
Wardlaw Ramsay, Ibis, 1877, p. 47i ; Huine 8f Dav. S. F. vi. p. 493 ; Hume, 
S. F. viii. p. 116 Oates, S. F. x. p. 247. 
Description. — Male and female. Crown, nape, back, rump, scapulars and 
wing-coverts sooty brown ; upper tail-coverts white at the sides, the longer 
central feathers brown on the inner web, white on the outer ; tail white, 
the central pair of feathers brown on the inner web ; primaries dark brown, 
the later ones tipped with whitish ; secondaries very broadly tipped with 
white ; tertiaries broadly margined with white ; forehead, face, sides and 
back of the neck and the whole lower plumage pure white. 
Bill bright red, turning yellow at the tip of both mandibles ; iris dark 
brown ; legs bright red ; claws blackish horn-colour. 
