486 
LARIDA3. 
NATA TORES. 
LARIDjE. 
NODDY TERN. 
Sterna stolida. 
PLATE CXXXIY. FIG. III. 
The Noddy Tern, which has been recently added to 
our British birds, has a very wide range. It is abundant 
in America; and as Audubon is the only naturalist who 
has given an account of its habits during the breeding- 
season, I have quoted the following extract from his 
book:— 
“ About the beginning of May, the Noddies collect 
from all parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the coasts of 
Florida, for the purpose of returning to their breeding- 
places on one of the Tortugas, called Noddy Key. These 
birds form regular nests of twigs and dry grass, which 
they place on the bushes or low trees, but never on the 
ground. On visiting their island on the 11th of May, 
I was surprised to see that many of them were repair¬ 
ing and augmenting nests that had remained through 
the winter, while others were employed in constructing 
new ones, and some were already sitting on their eggs. 
In a great many instances, the repaired nests formed 
masses nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them 
had only a slight hollow for the eggs, broken shells of 
which were found among the entire ones, as if they had 
been purposely placed there. The birds did not discon- 
