356 Synopsis of the Birds 
Sooty Tern , Sterna fuliginosa, Wils. Am. Orn. viii. p. 145 * 
pi - 72. fig . 7. 
Inhabits the tropical seas : common during summer on the 
southern and south-eastern coasts of the United States. 
291. Sterna stolida, L. Bill black ; crown whitish ; tail 
rounded ; webs entire. 
Noddy , Sterna stolida , Nob. Am. Orn. iv. Hirondelle 
de mer brune de la Louisiane. Buff. pi. enl. 997. 
Inhabits all parts of the tropical seas, migrating occasion- 
ally to the North American coasts : not very rare. 
65. LARUS. 
Larus , L.Briss. Gm.Lath. 111. Cuv. Temm. Vieill. Ranz. 
Larus, Gavia , Xema , Boie. 
Bill moderate, robust, hard, straight, compressed, naked 
at base, edges bent inward, sharp ; upper mandible rounded 
above, curved at the point, sharpish ; lower somewhat shorter, 
gibbous and angular beneath the point, obliquely truncated 
at tip : nostrils medial, lateral, longitudinal, linear, wider and 
rounded anteriorly, open, pervious : tongue acute, hardly cleft 
at tip. Head rather large; eyes moderate ; neck moderate, 
stout; body plump, compressed. Feet moderate, rather slen- 
der; tarsus nearly equal to the middle toe; webs entire; lateral 
toes margined exteriorly with a narrow membrane; middle toe 
longest, but of moderate length ; outer longer than the inner; 
hind toe very small, articulated high and posteriorly with the 
tarsus, raised from the ground : nails small, curved, rather 
acute, dilated interiorly into an edge ; middle twice as large 
as the others ; hind nail sometimes wanting. Wings long, 
acute; quills stiff; first and second primaries subequal, long- 
est. Tail almost always even, of twelve feathers. 
Female somewhat smaller, but perfectly similar in color 
to the male. Young for several years, the larger species 
four or five, very different from the adult. Moult twice a 
