GREY NODDY. 
In the Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lend.) 1845, p. 104, Gould named Anouscinereus : — 
A. capite, collo, et corpore inferiore argentato-albis ; parva plumarum linea oculum 
circumeunte nigra ad rostrum, ad nucham alba ; dorso alis, caudaque laete griseis ; secon- 
dariis ad apices albis. 
Head, neck and all the under surface silvery greyish-white ; round the eye a narrow 
ring of feathers, the anterior half of which is deep black and the posterior half white ; 
back, wings and tail light grey ; secondaries tipped with white ; bill black ; tarsi and toes 
brownish black ; interdigital membrane yellowish. Total length 11 inches , bill 1| ; 
wing 8 ; tail 5 ; tarsi IJ ; middle toe and nail If. 
Hab. The Northern Coasts of Australia. 
At the same time he gave the name of Anous parvulus to a bird from 
Christmas Island presented by Bennett, apparently ignorant of the fact that 
Bennett had himself described it. His description was, “ ashy-grey, being 
somewhat lighter on the head and neck than on other parts of the plumage.” 
In the U.S. Expl. Exp., Zool., p. 285, 1848 (c/. 2nd ed., p. 393, 1858), Peale 
proposed Megalopterus plmribeus : — 
General form, light and graceful : lead coloured, palest near the bill ; quills darkest ; 
the external web of the first quill black, secondaries tipped with white ; tail forked, but 
having the exterior feathers shorter than the next, which are longest ; brow black ; the 
posterior half of the eyelids white ; irides brown ; bill slender, black ; inside of the 
mouth salmon-yellow ; legs rather large, black ; the toe membranes full, yeUowish-white ; 
hind toe rudimentary, and having a straight nail. Total length, ten and one half inches ; 
extent of vdngs, twenty-one and one fourth inches ; wing, from the carpal joint, seven 
and six-tenths inches ; outer tail-feathers, three and five-tenths inches ; second, four and 
one-tenth inches ; middle, two and seven-tenths inches ; bill one inch, to the corner of the 
mouth one and four-tenths inches ; middle toe, one and two -tenths inches ; tarsi, nineteen 
twentieths of an inch ; hind toe, including the nail, one tenth of an inch. Male. Sexes 
alike in size and colour. 
Honden Island, Paumotu Group. 
In the “ Zoology ” of the Voy. aut. du Monde “ Venus,'''' on pi. ix., 1849, is 
given a figure of Stolida cinerea Neboux, while the letterpress (p. 276) reads : — 
Char spec. An. corpore cinereo ; supra fuscius infra dilutius ; capite et fronte 
sericeis albescentibus ; macula oculari alba ; remigibus nigrescentibus ; tegminibus 
brunneis ; cauda fureata ; rostro ac pedibus nigris ; palmis flavescentibus. 
Void la description que le docteur Nebroux a donnee de cet Oiseau dans la Rev. Zool. 
d’Oct., 1840, p. 291 : Sterne cendre (Sous-genre Noddi) Bee noir, grde : Iris noir ; paupides 
noires. Tete et front gris blanchatre ayant I’aspect satine. Col et dos cendre fonce. 
Gorge, ventre et dessous des ailes bruns. Queue passablament fourchue, de la merne 
couleur que le manteau ; la seconde penne est la plus longue. Tarses tres-longs et noirs ; 
membranes interdigitales jaimatres. Longueur totale, 24 centimetres. 
Habile. Pris a le mer dans I’Ocean Pacifique (hemisphere boreal). 
In the Novit. Synops. Av., No. IV., Dec., 1850, Reichenbach introduced 
“ Anous tepJirodes for Stolida cinerea Neboux Venus ic,” on account of Gould’s 
prior introduction of Anous cinereus for a different bird of the same genus. 
In the Gcnnptes Rendus Sci., Paris, Vol. XLII., p. 773, 1856, Bonaparte 
renamed Gould’s Anous cinereus, calling it Procelsterna albivitta, as he dated 
Neboux’s S. cinerea from 1840, though we have seen it was not published 
until 1849, only the vernacular appearing at the earlier date. 
VOL. n. 
429 
