318 
POPULAR HISTOEY OP BIEDS. 
bird {ILydfoelielidon fuUginosum), and Sandwich Tern con- 
tribute the greater number of the eggs collected. The noddies 
build their nests on a stunted tree^ at a small elevation from 
the ground ; and as their nests are resorted to for a number 
of years^ and are annually repaired and added to^ they grow 
into huge piles. The egg-bird and the Sandwich tern lay 
their eggs in cavities of the rock, or in shallow holes scraped 
on the bare sand. Sir George Mackenzie speaks of the egg 
of the tern as a very delicate article of food, and says that, 
during his travels in Iceland, these eggs frequently formed 
a principal relish in his homely repasts. 
The rest of the webfooted birds have the thumb united 
to the other toes by the same membrane ; and like the two 
preceding families, all the species are furnished with long 
wings and fly well. In this division come the Pelicans, 
Cormorants, Gannets, Darters, and Tropic Birds. 
The Pelicans (Pelicanid^) are for the most part a family 
of largish birds, distinguished by their white or black co- 
lours and their large and long bill. At the base of the bill 
there is in most of them a naked space ; the nostrils are 
small and scarcely visible ; the skin of the throat is more or 
less extensible, and in the true pelicans it forms an enormous 
bag ; the tongue is very small ; their hind-toe is united to 
