Noddy (Anous), a genus of birds of the family Laridae, differing from terns in having the bill slightly angular, thus exhibiting an approach to gulls, and the tail not forked, but somewhat wedge-shaped. Altogether seven species are enumerated, widely distributed throughout the tropics and in the temperate zones. One species (A. stolidus) has been recorded as found off Wexford and in Dublin Bay, but no specimens other than the two obtained there have been taken in the British Isles or on the Continent. It is a familiar bird in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, not unfrequently alighting on vessels and suffering itself to be taken by the hand; and so at its breeding-places also, where, not accustomed to the visits of man, it scarcely gets out of the way, and the female sits undisturbed on the nest. Hence it commonly shares with the booby the reputation of unusual stupidity. It is about 15 or 16 inches long, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, the general colour being a brownish black. The food consists chiefly of small fish and molluscs. Particular islands seem to be specially selected as the breeding-places of noddies, among them being the Bahamas, many of the Keys of the West Indies, the Laccadives, St Helena, Ascension, and many islands of Polynesia and Australia. Their nests, which are built on shelves of rocks or patches of sand or on trees, are sometimes very closely placed together. Each nest generally contains only one egg, which is about two inches long and of a buff colour, sparsely speckled with reddish brown. The eggs are very good to eat, and in some places are collected in large numbers. The other species of noddy are distinguished by their smaller size and slightly different colour.