812 
TERNS AND NODDIES. 
Mediterranean, as very common about Gibraltar, and as 
visiting the lakes, rivers and marshes beyond the Alps. It 
is fonnd commonly in most of the Italian lakes, and some- 
times on that of Geneva, but never in Holland. It is in- 
cluded among the birds of Germany and Scandinavia. Its 
length is about eight inches; has the head, neck, forepart of 
back, breast, belly, and lower wing-coverts, deep black; 
hind part of back and shoulders greyish black ; large wing- 
coverts bluish grey ; rest of the plumage pure white ; the 
bill is reddish brown, and feet coral red. 
The Whiskered Tern is a larger bird, described by 
Yarrell, who first introduced it into the British fauna, 
as measuring eleven inches and a half. It has the upper 
part of its head and nape deep black ; a pure white band 
from the base of the bill beneath the eyes to the ear- coverts, 
throat greyish white, shaded into pure grey on the breast, 
and into blackish grey on the belly and sides ; all the upper 
parts, wings, and tail of an imiform deep grey. The bill 
and feet are bright red. Both these birds are said to live 
much on aquatic insects, dragon-flies, moths, &c. 
The Gull-billed Tern (Gelochelidon Anglicci). 
This species is said to be identical with the Marsh Tern 
of Wilson's North American Ornithology : it was first 
made known as a British bird by Montagu, who figured and 
described it in the supplement to his * Ornithological Dic- 
tionary,' published in 1813. It differs from the other 
Marsh Terns in having a stouter and shorter bill, with a 
greater prominence on the lower mandible; and for this 
reason it has been made to represent a distinct genus, called 
Gelochelidon^ which arrangement, however, is not generally 
adopted. 
This bird is about fourteen inches and a half long ; the 
upper part of its head is black ; of the body, pale greyish 
blue ; the rest of the plumage white. It is said by Tem- 
minck to be common in Hungary and the confines of 
Turkey, and to have been met with in various parts of 
Europe ; in India and its islands, as Avell as in America, from 
Brazil to the Southern States. 
The Common Noddy {Megalopterus stolidus). — The 
