Oedee GAVI^.] 
[Fam. STERNID^. 
ANGUS CINEEEUS. 
(THE LITTLE NODDY.) 
Anous cinereus, Gould, P. Z. S. 1845, p. 104 ; id. B. Australia, vii. pi. 76 (1848). 
Procelsterna albivitta, Bp. Compt. Rend. xlii. 1856, p. 773. 
Sterna cinerea, Schlegel, M. P.-Bas, Sternce, p. 38 (1863). 
Anous albivittatus, Finsch, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 776. 
Pelecanopus pelecanoides. Gray, List B. Brit. Mus. pt. iii. p. 180 (1844). 
Ad. sTiprk dilute cinereus : pileo cum collo postico et corporc subtus toto albis : tectricibus alarum dorso concoloribus 
pallide brunneo paullb lavatis : primariis schistaceo-cinereis : secundariis conspicue albo terminatis : cauda 
omnino scbistaceo-cinere^ : rostro nigro ; pedibus nigricaiiti-brunneis, palmis sordide fla\4s. 
Adult {N.-Z. exam])le). Head, neck, and underparts generally pure white; upper surface delicate French-grey, 
fading away to nothing on the hind neck, and deepening to dark ash-grey on the quills and tail-feathers ; 
the outer web of the first primary blackish brown ; the inner webs of all the primaries whitish on their 
anterior margin ; the shafts dark brown above, whitish at the base, and entirely white on the under surface; 
the secondaries with a conspicuous terminai margin of white. Biil black ; legs and feet blackish brown, 
with yellowish webs. Length 11'5 inches ; wing, from flexure, 8; tail 4'35 ; bill, along the ridge 1, along 
the edge of lower mandible 1'4; bare tibia '25; tarsus ‘85 ; middle toe and claw 1'25. 
Obs. On a comparison of this species with the more northerly Anous cceruleus, Mr. Howard Saunders remarks 
(P. Z. S. 1878, p. 212) ; — “A. caruJeus is smaller than A. cinereus, Gould, and is darker ail over, espeeially 
on the underparts, which are blue-grey, whereas in A. cinereus they are nearly white. The differences are 
too great to be explained away as being due to age, and I admit the distinetness of the two species ; but 
they are very closely allied. The fact of their being found in such close proximity within so limited an area 
is very remarkable.” 
The unique New-Zealand example of this bird was obtained at Cape Maria Vandieman in the early 
part of 1882. Mr. Robson, to whose kindness I am indebted for the skin, furnished me with the 
following account of it : — “ After a heavy S.W. gale my sons were going through some large flax 
bushes and came upon this Tern in the middle of one of them. It was still living, but so much 
exhausted that it could only flutter a short distance, so that it was secured without difficulty. I may 
add that another was observed on the wing, one very calm day, there being very little doubt about the 
dientification.” 
Dr. Crowfoot says of this species (Ibis, 1885, p. 265) : — “ These Grey Terns, called by the Norfolk- 
Islanders the ‘ Little Blue Petrel,’ are fairly numerous during the breeding-season. They lay their 
eggs on Phillip and Nepean Islands and the neighbouring rocks. The eggs are usually placed on 
inaccessible ledges, but often on the sand, sometimes not many feet above the sea, but usually from 80 
to 2000 feet. They make no attempt at a nest, and lay only one egg, which is the most easily broken 
of all the sea-birds’ eggs found on these islands. The eggs much resemble those of the other species 
of Noddy, but the ground-colour is rather darker, and the spots are numerous, small, and more 
generally distributed over the whole surface than in the eggs of the other species. They measure on 
an average 1’6 inch in length by 1T2 in breadth, and vary but little either in size or in markings.” 
