Noddy

Noddy, any bird of the genus Anoiis, of the Gull family, with six species from tropical and temperate zones. They are generally placed in a sub-family with the Terns, but the tail is not forked, and the fore part of the under mandible is bent at an angle. They feed on molluscs and small fish, and the general plumage is dusky. The Common Noddy (A. stolidus), about 15 inches in length, is abundant in the Atlantic and the Pacific. These birds owe their uncomplimentary popular and scientific names to their apparent stupidity, as manifested by their fearlessness of man on his visits to their island breeding-places to gather their eggs.