Birds of Celebes: Laridae. 
909 
Sexes. The sexes are very similar. Mr. Howard Saunders describes the female as being, as 
a ride, somewhat browner on the shoulders and with less lead-colour on the throat, 
slightly smaller and udth a weaker hill fl.9j. 
Young. Differs from the adult in being paler brown, the feathers of the back and the wing- 
coverts with paler edges; abdomen whity- brown; head above brown like the back, 
becoming grey on the foi'ehead; supercihary and suborbital stripe white; loral region 
and above front of eye blackish brown; “feet brovmish; bill black” (o’, Manado, 
16. Nov. 1893: P.&H. Sarasin). 
Eggs. Only one to a sitting. “The most usual variety found is of a creamy white ground- 
colour, with crowded spots and blotches of chestnut-red and faint bluish grey, the 
latter colouring appearing as if beneath the shell’s surface; these markings are more 
thickly disposed towards the larger end of the egg, and in some specimens form an 
irregular zone”; size 50.2x35.3 mm (North 12)] see, also, Gould J/; Baird, 
Brewer & Eidgway S; O. Finsch & E. Blasius 10] etc. The yolk is yellow; in 
Sterna fuUgimsa deep orange-reddi.sh (Crowfoot, and Finsch 10). 
Nest. Of sea-weed, about 6 inches in diameter, 4—8 in. in height, so completely plastered 
with the excrement of the bird that at first sight they appear to be entirely formed 
of that material; placed on the ground in a clear open space, or on the tops of the 
thick scrub (Gilbert in Gould II\ Houtmann’s Abrolhos — see photograph of 
breeding grounds by A. J. Campbell 15). In the South Seas Dr. Finsch found the 
Noddy always breeding in trees; the nests were roughly constructed of dry twdgs on 
the leaves of cocoa-palms, by preference in a parasitic fern growing thereon. On the 
5 contrary at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean Dr. Finsch found the sj^ecies breed- 
ing on the ground, though the open spot was surrounded by trees flOj. Interesting 
accounts of the breeding of this species have been given by many writers. 
Distribution. The wai'mer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. — In the 
Celebes Province: — Sangi Islands (v. Biiltzingslowen 4, 11)] N. Celebes (Nat. 
Coll., P.&F. Sarasin 18). 
Hitherto the Common Noddy had not been recorded from Celebes, and the 
adult from our native collectors and the young specimen from the Sarasins 
described are the only examples from the island with which we are acquainted. 
This well-known species is easily distinguishable from the Terns by its 
dark smoke-brown plumage and grey cap, and structurally by the shape of the 
tail, which is graduated, the fourth pair of rectrices from the outside being the 
longest. Not taking into consideration the doubtful form, Anotis galapagensis 
Sharpe, the Common Noddy finds its nearest relatives in the members of the 
genus Micranous, which Mr. H. Saunders separates by their longer and thinner 
bill, and the third pair of rectrices from the outside being the longest. Micranous 
leucocapillus Gld. and possibly M. tenuirostris Temm. may ultimately be found 
on the coasts of Celebes; the former may be recognised by its head which is 
white above, by its sooty black plumage and jet-black lores; the latter is like 
A. stolidus, but is distinguishable by its grey lores and black mark in front of 
and over the eye; both are also much smaller than A. stolidtis. 
Noddy, meaning stupid, is a sailors’ name for this species, given on ac- 
count of its being free from a wholesome dread of man. It has been known to 
