THE BIRD ROOKERIES OF LAYS AN. 



33^ 



feathers l)eing excessively elongated iiiid bright red. When nesting 

 these l)irds are so well eoneealed that they ^vould he unnoticed were it 

 not for their strident outcries. This resulted in distressful experiences 

 when the 'jackies' from the Albatross were given shore leave, and went 

 around pulling the tail feathers from every tropic bird they could find; 

 the birds refusing to leave the nests, but protesting vigorously and occa- 

 sionally getting revenge by biting savagely with their powerful beaks. 

 The gannets are among the more conspicuous birds of the island, 

 being large white birds with black wings. They are known as 'bush 



Fig. 20. Winglkss Kail (below) ; L.vysan Finch (to the lelt) ; L.wsan Huneyeateii (to 

 the right). From a group mounted by Mr. R. M. Anderson. 



gannet' and 'sand gannet,' names indicative of their nesting habits. 

 The downy young of these birds are exquisitely white and fluffy, re- 

 minding one of animated puff balls. 



The Laysan duck, curlews, plover and turn-stones are found in 

 numbers along the margin of the central lagoon, and furnish a wel- 

 come addition to the larder of Mr. Schlemmer and the men in his 

 employ. Four species of land birds complete the list. One is the 

 'wingless rail,' not literally wingless, but with wings reduced to func- 

 tionless rudiments. 



Another species confined to this limited area is the Laysan finch, 



