342 
VERTEBRATA, 
THE ARCTIC TERN. 
The Noddy, S. stoUda^ inhabits the tropical seas, and is occasionally seen on the coasts of the 
United States, and also as far north as the waters of England. Audubon gives the following 
pleasant account of it : " About the beginning of May the noddies collect from all parts of the Gulf 
of Mexico and the coasts of Florida, for the purpose of returning to their breeding places on one of 
the Tortugas called Noddy Rug. These birds form regular nests of twigs and dry grass, which 
they place on the bushes or low trees, but never on the ground. On visiting their island on the 
11th May, 1832, I Avas surprised to see that many of them were repairing and augmenting nests 
that had remained through the winter, while others were employed in constructing new ones, and 
some were already sitting on their eggs. In a great many instances the repaired nests formed 
masses nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them had only a slight hollow for the eggs, broken 
shells of which were found among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely placed there. 
The birds did not discontinue their labors, although there were nine or ten of us walking among 
the bushes ; and when we had gone a few yards into the thicket, thousands of them flew quite 
low over us, some at times coming so close as to enable us to catch a few of them with the hand. 
On one side might be seen a noddy carrying a stick in its bill, or a bird picking up something 
from the ground to add ta its nest ; on the other, several were seen sitting on their eggs uncon- 
scious of danger, while their mates brought them food. The greater part rose on the wing as we 
advanced, but realighted as soon as we had passed. The bushes were rarely taller than ourselves, 
so that we could easily see the eggs in the nests. This was quite a new sight to me, and not less 
pleasing than unexpected. 
" The noddy, like most other species of Tern, lays three eggs, which average two inches in 
length by an inch and three-eighths in breadth, and are of a reddish-yellow coloi', spotted and 
patched with dull red and faint purple. They afford excellent eating, and our sailors seldom failed 
to collect bucketfuls daily, during our stay at the Tortugas. The wreckers assured me that the 
young birds remain with the old ones through the winter, in which respect the noddy, if this ac- 
count be correct, differs from other species, the young of which keep by themselves till spring. 
At the approach of a boat the noddies never flew off their island, in the manner of the Sooty 
Terns. They appeared to go further out to sea than those birds, in search of their food, which 
consists of fishes mostly caught amid the floating sea-weeds, these Terns seizing them, not by 
plunging perpendicularly downward, as other species do, but by skimming close over the surface 
in the manner of gulls, and also by alighting and swimming round the edges of the weeds. This 
I had abundant opportunities of seeing while on the Gulf of Mexico. The flight of this bird 
greatly resembles that of the night-hawk when passing over meadows and rivers. When about 
to alight on the water, the noddy keeps its wings extended upward, and touches it first with its 
feet. It swims with considerable buoyancy and grace, and at times immerses its head to seize on 
a fish. It does not see well by night, and it is for this reason that it frequently alights on the 
