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 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. * * * * * The SCISSOR-BILLS (_Rhynchopes_) constitute a group of night birds, bearing the same relationship to the Sea Swallows as the Owls to the Falcons. Their body is elongate, neck long, head small, wings very long, and the forked tail of moderate size. Their beak is so peculiar in its structure that it can be compared to nothing so happily as to a pair of scissors. The lower mandible is very considerably longer than the upper portion of the bill; the legs are feeble, tolerably long but slender, and the anterior toes connected by a deeply-incised web. The general plumage, which is close and smooth, presents a peculiar, greasy appearance. THE INDIAN SCISSOR-BILL.