STERNXNiE. MEGALOPTERUS. 235 
quented by about two hundred individuals. At the mouth 
of the Frith of Forth it is also not of rare occurrence. Its 
appearance on w 7 ing is very singular, it being extremely ac- 
tive and lively, as well as vociferous. It advances by quick 
beats of the wings, performed at considerable intervals, with 
a gliding, undulated, and most buoyant and unsteady mo- 
tion, hovers like a hawk, and darts down headlong on its 
prey. The eggs, two or three in number, are coloured like 
those of the Common Tern, an inch and two-twelfths long, 
eleven-twelfths in breadth. 
Sterna minuta, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 228. — Sterna minuta, 
Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 809.— Sterna minuta, Temm. Man. 
d’Ornith. ii. 752. — Sterna minuta, Little Tern, MacGillivray, 
Brit. Birds, v. 
GENUS CXLYII. MEGALOPTERUS. NODDY. 
This genus differs from Sterna in the form of the bill, 
which is more slender and elongated, and especially in that 
of the tail, which, in place of being forked, is just the re- 
verse, or graduated. The bill is longer than the head, slender 
but rather strong, compressed, very acute ; upper mandible 
with the dorsal line nearly straight, the sides convex, the 
edges sharp and inflected, the tip acute ; the nasal grooves 
extended to beyond half the length of the bill, and slightly 
deflected toward the edges ; lower mandible with the angle 
very narrow, acute, the dorsal line straight, the sides convex, 
the edges sharp and inflected, the tip extremely acute. 
Mouth rather wide ; tongue very slender, tapering to a horny 
point, grooved above ; oesophagus very wide, much dilated 
at its lower part ; stomach very small, with its muscles thin, 
and the epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous ; intes- 
tine of moderate length, narrow ; coeca very small. Nos- 
trils submedial, linear, pervious. Eyes of moderate size. 
Apertures of ears moderate. Feet very short, rather stout ; 
tibia bare for a short space ; tarsus very short, roundish, 
with small anterior seutella ; toes slender, the fourth nearly 
as long as the third ; the anterior toes with emarginate 
webs ; claws compressed, acute. Plumage soft, close, blend- 
ed, very short on the head ; wings very long, narrow, point- 
ed ; the primary quills tapering to a rounded tip ; tail long, 
graduated, of twelve tapering, rounded feathers. 
