Plumage soft and blended, on the fore part of the head very short, on the neck short and very soft. Wings long, very acute, narrow; primaries tapering and rounded, the first longest, the second little shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries obliquely rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail short, of twelve narrow, rounded feathers, the two middle ones a little longer than the rest.
Bill light blue, dusky towards the end. Iris brown. Feet light blue; claws black. Head and neck brownish-grey, streaked with blackish-brown; the throat, and a band from the bill over the eye white. Fore part of back and scapulars brownish-grey, variegated with central markings and bars of blackish-brown; the hind part of the back brownish-grey with a gloss of olive. Wing-coverts grey with central lines of brownish-black; primary coverts and primary quills brownish-black, but the latter white in their basal half; outer secondaries white, inner like the scapulars. Lower wing-coverts dusky; breast and sides white, the latter undulatingly barred with brownish-black; abdomen and lower and upper tail-coverts white, some of them, however, with a few dusky bars. The four middle tail-feathers are barred with brownish-black and brownish-grey, the rest pale grey fading to white on the outer, and all more or less minutely mottled with pale brown.
Length to end of tail 15 1/4 inches, to end of wings 15, to end of claws 17 1/2; extent of wings 27 3/4; wing from flexure 8 1/4; tail 3 2/12; bill along the back 2 1/4; along the edge of lower mandible 2 4/12; tarsus 2 1/4; middle toe 1 5/12, its claw 1/4. Weight 7 oz.
Adult Female in winter. Plate CCLXXIV. Fig. 2.
In winter the upper parts are light brownish-grey, the fore part of the neck and the sides of the same colour but paler; the throat, breast, abdomen, and rump white; the lower and upper tail-coverts with a few undulated lines of brownish-grey; the wings as in summer; as is the tail, only that the middle feathers are grey.
Length 15 1/2 inches; wing from flexure 8 1/2; extent of wings 31; tail 3 1/4; bill along the back 2 7/12, along the edge of lower mandible 2 6 1/2/12; tarsus 1 7/12; middle toe 1 5/12, its claw 1/4. Weight 10 oz.
THE NODDY TERN.
Sterna stolida, Linn.
PLATE CCLXXV.
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. They nearly equal in number the Sooty Terns, which also breed on an island a few miles distant. The Noddies 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 1832, I was surprised to see that many of them were repairing 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 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 seen 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. This was quite a new sight to me, and not less pleasing than unexpected.
The Noddy, like most other species of Terns, lays three eggs, which average two inches in length, by an inch and three-eighths in breadth, and are of a reddish-yellow colour, spotted and patched with dull red and faint purple. They afford excellent eating, and our sailors seldom failed to collect bucketfuls of them daily during our stay at the Tortugas. The wreckers assured me that the young birds remain along with the old through the winter, in which respect the Noddy, if this account be correct, differs from other species, the young of which keep by themselves until spring.