AUSTRALIAN NODDY. 
Mr. Gibson^ found this species breeding principally on Pelsart and Rat 
Islands, West Australia, especially the latter, where they were laying in 
hundreds of thousands in November. 
Dr. Macgillivrayf found it nesting on the Howick group of Islands in the 
Great Barrier Reef, Queensland : “ The Noddies were nesting everywhere on 
the ground, on the grass, and upon the shrubby herbage a foot or more from the 
ground. The nests were in nearly every instance constructed of sea-weed, 
with a lining of sea-shells. Some birds seemed to be connoisseurs in con- 
chology, as many very beautiful shells were to be found in their nests, whereas 
others take no care, lining theirs with only a few broken fragments. The 
nests contained from fresh eggs to nearly fully-fledged young birds, in each 
instance only one. The parent birds allowed us to approach quite closely 
before rising from their nests, but would not permit of any handling.” 
Mr. G. H. BeddoesJ records this Tern’s appearance for the breeding- 
season on Rat Island, West Australia, as 14th to 16th August in 1888-9 : 
“ They are usually first heard at night, and then appear gradually for a few 
days before they arrive in great crowds. The earliest eggs are deposited 
about the beginning of October, but laying continues for the two or three 
following months. About the break-up of the weather in April, all the 
Noddies, with their young, depart. Not a solitary bird remains. A week or 
two prior to the final exodus, the birds leave the island daily, but return at night. 
This may be a method of exercising the young before the last great flight. 
There is a curious incident of all these birds having suddenly left Rat Island for 
about a fortnight during the month of October, when a cold rain set in, leaving 
eggs and young to perish. Upon slight showers of rain falling, the birds fly out 
to the shoals upon the reefs, and skim over the water in a remarkable manner, 
as if fishing. The call-note of the Noddy is a coarse, gull-like bark.” 
Mr. A. F. B. Hull,§ writing on the birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk 
Islands, says : “At Lord Howe Island the Noddy breeds only on the Admiralty 
Islets, visiting the main island for feeding purposes only. During my visit 
to the large Admiralty Islet, I found several hundreds of these birds nesting 
amongst the twisted limbs of some dead shrubs lining the edge of a cliff The 
nests were constructed of dry grass and seaweed, loosely packed together with 
a moderate depression in the centre ; they were placed very close together, 
the scrubs being literally covered with them. Later comers, who hadWled 
to secure a branch, had fain to be content with the ground beneath the bushes. 
“ At Norfolk Island the Noddy also avoids the main island, breeding 
* Emu, Vol. VIII., p. 65, 1908. Jin Campbell’s Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 852, 1901. 
t ih., Vol. X., p. 218, 1910. § Proc. Zool. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 657, 1910. 
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