The WHITE-WINGED TERN (Hydrochelidon leucoptera) has the body-feathers of a rich deep black; the upper part of the wing is blueish grey; the shoulders and points of the secondary quills are whitish grey, and the rump and tail-feathers white. This species, which closely resembles the Black Tern in size, manners, and habits, is very rare upon the coasts of Great Britain. Temminck states that it frequents the shores of the Mediterranean, and the lakes, rivers, and marshes beyond the Alps, being common about Gibraltar, and Lakes Como, Lugano, and Lucerne, but that it never visits Holland, or North Europe. Nilsson, on the contrary, includes it amongst the birds of Germany and Scandinavia. The food of the White-winged Tern consists of winged and aquatic insects, worms, and sometimes small fishes.
THE WHITE-BEARDED TERN.
The WHITE-BEARDED TERN (Hydrochelidon leucopareja) has the black upon the head and nape divided from the dark grey lower neck by a broad white stripe; the breast is dark grey, mantle light grey, and belly greyish white. This rare bird was first discovered by M. Natterer, in the marshes of South Hungary, and is but very seldom seen in Great Britain. We are little acquainted with its habits beyond that it subsists upon worms, snails, and winged insects. Yarrell describes the egg as being one inch and a half long, by one and one-eighth broad, with an asparagus-green shell, spotted with brownish black and blueish grey.
THE WHITE OR SILKY TERN.
The WHITE or SILKY TERN (Gygis Candida) is a beautiful bird, with slender body, long thin beak, which curves perceptibly upwards, long wings, and deeply excised tail. The feet are small, and the toes furnished with a narrow web; the plumage is of silky softness and pure white; the eye is black, the beak dark blue towards its base and black at the point; the foot is saffron-yellow.
The White Tern inhabits the Pacific Ocean, and is to be met with from Moreton Bay to Cape York. Gould was informed by Mr. Cumming, that on visiting Elizabeth Island, in the South Seas, which is entirely destitute of inhabitants and fresh water, he found this, or an allied species, breeding on a kind of Pandanus, its single egg being deposited on the horizontal branches in a depression, which, although slight, was sufficient to retain it in position, despite the high winds and consequent oscillation to which it was subjected. Mr. Cumming added that the old birds were flying about in thousands, like swarms of bees, and that he noticed several breeding on the same tree. Some of the young birds were hatched and covered with down, and being within reach, he took a few of them in his hand, and after examining, replaced them on their dangerous resting-place, from which it appeared they occasionally fell down and were destroyed, as he observed several lying dead on the ground. Gould also refers to a bird of this genus, and perhaps the same species noticed by Darwin in the Journal of Researches in Geology and Natural History, who, speaking of Keeling Island,[Pg 184] says:—"There is one charming bird, a small and snow-white Tern, which smoothly hovers at the distance of an arm's length from your head, its large black eye scanning with quiet curiosity your expression. Little imagination is required to fancy that so light and delicate a body must be tenanted by some wandering fairy spirit."
THE NODDY.
The NODDY (Anous stolidus) represents a group recognisable by its somewhat clumsy appearance; its beak is longer than the head, strong, almost straight, and compressed at the sides, with the fore part of the under mandible bent at an angle; the legs are powerful, and the feet furnished with long narrow toes, fully webbed; the wings are long, narrow, and pointed, but their apices are somewhat rounded off, the tail is long and wedge-shaped, but not forked. The colour of its plumage, with the exception of the upper part of the head, which is greyish white, is sooty brown, a patch in front of and another behind the eye black, the quills and tail-feathers blackish brown; the eye is brown, the beak black, and the foot dusky brownish red. The length of the Noddy is sixteen inches, its breadth thirty-two, length of wing eleven inches, of tail five inches. These birds appear to be more widely distributed than any of their congeners; they are met with both in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, being perhaps most abundant in the latter portion of the globe. Some ornithologists, however, are undecided whether the Atlantic and Pacific birds must be regarded merely as varieties or as distinct species. Mr. Coues, who is of the latter opinion, has proposed to call the Pacific species Anous frater. Mr. Gould, however, prefers to describe the Australian bird under the old name of stolidus, rather than unnecessarily multiply the number of specific appellations, but he observes that though the Noddies of the northern and southern hemispheres are very much alike, considerable variation is found to exist in their modes of nidification, and the season at which it is performed; there is also a difference in the colouring and number of their eggs, those in the northern hemisphere being said to lay three, those in the southern only one egg. The Noddy, and an allied species, Anous melanops, says Gilbert, are extremely numerous on the Houtmann's Abrolhos, where they breed in prodigious numbers. The present species lays its eggs in November and December, on a nest constructed of seaweed, about six inches in diameter, and varying in height from four to eight inches, but without anything like regularity of form; the top is nearly flat, there being but a very slight hollow to prevent their single egg from rolling off. The nests are so completely plastered with the excrement of the bird, that at first sight they appear to be entirely formed of that material; they are either placed on the ground in a clear open space, or on the tops of the thick scrub, over those of the Onochoprios fuliginosus, the two species incubating together with the most perfect harmony, and the bushes presenting a mottled appearance, from the great numbers of both species perched on their tops. By the middle of January the eggs were nearly ready to hatch, and there would be an overwhelming increase of this species yearly, but for the check which Nature has provided against it, in the presence of a small lizard, which is very abundant in their breeding-places, and which finds an easy prey in the young.
"About the beginning of May," says Audubon, "the Noddies collect from all parts of the Gulf of Mexico and coasts of Florida, for the purpose of returning to their breeding-places on one of the Tortugas, called the Noddy Key, where they form regular nests of twigs and dry grass, which they place on bushes or low trees, but never on the ground. On visiting their island on the 11th of May, 1832, I was surprised to see that many of them were repairing and augmenting nests which had remained throughout the winter, while others were employed in commencing 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[Pg 185] were found among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely placed there. The birds did not discontinue their labours, although there were nine or ten of us walking among the bushes, and when we had gone a few yards into the thicket, thousands of them flew quite low over us, some at times coming so close as to enable us to catch a few of them with the hand. On one side might be seen a Noddy carrying a stick in its bill, or a bird picking up something from the ground to add to its nest, on the other several were sitting on their eggs, unconscious of danger, while their mates brought them food. The greater part rose on wing as we advanced, but re-alighted as soon as we had passed. The bushes were rarely taller than ourselves, so that we could easily see the eggs in the nests." It is stated that the Anous stolidus occasionally visits St. George's Channel, and in 1840 two specimens were shot off the coast of Wexford.