34 
AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
ORDER IX. — LARIFORMES. 
F. 32. LARIDAE (21), TERNS, NODDIES, GULLS, Skim- 
mers, 125 sp.— 32(13)A., 35(3)0., 45(1)P., 42(6)E., 
43(5)Nc., 46(19)N1. 
2 64 Whiskered Tern (Marsh), Hydrochelidon fluviatilis 
4 (hyhrida) , Eur. (Br.) to China, Malay, Afr. to A. 
r. swamps (inland) 11 
Head black; upper, wings, tail light-gray; face, throat, 
tail white; chest dark-gray; abdomen black; bill blood- 
red; winter, head grayish-white; f., sim. Water- 
insects, small fish. 
bird as he disappears in the hollow between the waves, and xatch 
him again as he rises over the crest; but how he rises, and whence 
comes the propelling force, are to the eye inexplicable; he alters 
merely the angle at which the wings are inclined. . . ." 
Gould considered that many of these birds circumnavigate the 
globe many times. They follow ships for days together. 
Albatrosses are sometimes caught by those on board ship. 
One means of protection employed by these birds is to .discharge a 
considerable quantity of oily matter at an intruder. This has 
led sailors to declare that the bird is ^'seasick." Some claim that 
this is not done for protection, but is due to fright. 
The members of the Australasian Ornithologists' Union, when 
on a trip in the Manawatu to the Bass Strait Islands found it 
tantalizing to see the beautiful Shy Albatrosses sitting on tUeir 
