some distance from land, but occasionally pursues its prey
into the estuaries of the larger Irish rivers, or along the outer
shores of the coast;”
M. Temminck, in the 4th Part of his Manual,^published
in 1840, mentions that the Noddy has been seen ondhe coast
-of France,, and Dr. Latham says.’-he was told that they lay
their eggs, in vast- numbers on - certain, small Mopky isles near
St. Helena.,
We are indebted to American ornitho^gis^.-for th e -bést
accounts of " the. habits of this T ern.; Mr. Audubon says,
“ about, the beginning of May the ^Noddies collect from all
parts of the. Gulf of Mexico*.and the' coasts oT.Floridarfor.
the purpose, of returning " ter 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 .j*hb bushes
or low trees, but never on the .-ground. On Visiting their
island on thé: 1 1 th of May, 1832, I was surprised to that
many of them were repairing and augmenting nestsHhat-had
remained, through the winter, while others were employed in
constructing new ones, and some were already s i t t i n g t h e i r
eggs; In a great many instances-,-the .repaired- np.sts^formed
masses nearly two feet in height, and ;y e || all of them had
only a. slight hollow for-the eggs, broken shells} of yhich were
found among the. entire ones, as if they had- been purposély-
' placed there. The birds did no,t 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 j 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 .hejséeri a Noddy carrying a
stick in its bill, or a bird picking up . something from the
ground to add - to its n e st; 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 ré-alighted as soon as we had passed. The
bushesmwere Irarély 'taller than ourselves, so that we could
easily ^^&^eg g s in the nests. This Was quite a new sight
ririme, and I not less pleasing than unexpected. The Noddy,
like most mother--species,* of Terns, lays .three eggs, which
average tw.o inches in length, *by an inch and three-eighths
in, breadth, and are of. a reddish-yellow colour, spotted and
pataJsjfb with’® |^ r e d --and ;^ intffitrple. They afford ex-
cellent';eating,R^i%^ur sailer^ sélcfèm failed to collect buckets-
ful dailyyduring • 'otfcn stay at the Tortugas* The wreckers
assifreff me#that ther young remain,along-with the old
'teymiigh in whacnl respect tfe^Noddy, if this ac-
Jlöünt Bel’fOerrect“, ‘idiffersrfrona other -species, the young of
which "M%p#by them sélvës^u-ntil spring. At- the approach of
a boat;* .the Noddies«-never ifeWjoff theif islaïid, in the mannen
Sfrriae^ooty Terns.” T h f || appeared to go farther out to sea'
than search .of their -foodj which consists of
fishesjm'osa^ea^ght amid the. floating sea-weed’s, these Terns
:Sriizing,flÉ|m> nbfefBy; plunging perpendicularly downwards, as
d’therjsjfcèëflB't.doj. but skimming dosérpVèr'‘thé surface in
the .mannerr-óf Gulb,- and: also by alighting and swimming:
round thekélgesiéLthe weed's; ^This I had abundant opportunities
seeing, while ,‘on the Gulf of Mexico. The flight
ofltjbis; bird greatly resembles that, of the Night-hawk when
passing over meadows or rivers.. When about to alight on
the.water, the Noddy keepsNi-fes wings extendid-upwards, and
toiiches £& first- with its .-feet. It swims with considerable
buoyancy andrgraGe, and at times immerses its head to seize
on a fish. I t dóes riot see. well by night, and it is for this
reason that it-frequently alights on the spars of vessels, where
it sleeps so spundly that the seamen often catch them. When
seized in the hand it utters: a rough cry, not unlike that of a
young American Crow taken from the .nest. On such occasions
it bites severely, with quickly-repeated movements of
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