14 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



The next morning we landed early, and, 

 walking to the settlement, were met by our English 

 friends, who had procured ponies for us on which 

 to cross the island. During our ride I saw a pair 

 of white terns (Gygis sp.), the most beautiful 

 of all the tropical sea-birds. Later on we saw 

 many of these terns in the various islands we 

 visited, and, whether hovering over the deep blue 

 sea of the South Pacific, or sailing round the palms 

 of a coral island in the Indian Ocean, they seem 

 equally at home ; wherever they were seen the 

 snow-white of their plumage and the deep dark 

 blue of their eyes made them ever memorable. 



At the base of the column on the peak we made 

 our first acquaintance with frigate birds,* which 

 were sitting in numbers on some bushes ; their 

 scarlet pouches were extended, and looked in the 

 distance like large red blossoms. It is only in 

 the breeding season that frigate birds develop 

 this curious ornament. When closely examined 

 it is seen that the pouch is formed by a bare patch 

 of skin on the throat, which can be expanded by 

 the bird at will. At times a great bladder as large 

 as a football is thus formed. When the bird is 

 taken in the hand and carefully examined, the 

 whole of the body appears to be inflated. On 

 skinning the bird it is at once seen that the whole 

 body is enveloped with a mass of air cells. The 

 pouch is only an exaggerated form of such an air 



* Fregata aquila. 



