Cheeseman.— 07t Birds from the Kermadec Islands. 123 



Bell writes, " It lays its solitary egg high up on the pohutu- 

 kawa trees, on a horizontal branch not much thicker than a 

 man's wrist. The bird sticks to the egg and keeps it in its 

 place until it is hatched." This statement is corroborated by 

 what is known of its habits in some other localities. Mr. 

 Cuming, the well-known conchologist, observed it on Eliza- 

 heth Island, and says, " It was breeding on a kind of Pan- 

 danus, its single egg being deposited on the horizontal branches, 

 in a depression which, although slight, was sufficient to 

 retain it in position despite of the high winds and consequent 

 oscillations to which it was subjected." Mr. Cuming adds 

 that the old birds were flying about in thousands like swarms 

 of bees, and that he noticed several breeding on the same tree. 

 Several young birds were observed lying dead on the ground, 

 from which it appears that they frequently drop from their 

 dangerous resting-place. However, it does not always breed 

 on trees ; for Dr. Graffe, a German collector, found it resting 

 in hollows of the bare rock on one of the islands of the Phoenix 

 group. 



Gygis Candida is found throughout the whole of Polynesia, 

 along the Australian coasts northwards to Torres Straits, and 

 from thence through the Malay i\rchipelago to India. It has 

 also been recorded from the west coast of Africa. 



3. Phaeton ruhricauda, Bodd (Eed-tailed Tro^jic Bird). 



This beautiful bird, so familiar to all voyagers in the 

 warmer parts of Polynesia, has long been known to breed as 

 near to New Zealand as Norfolk Island, and occasional strag- 

 glers are at long intervals captured by the Maoris residing 

 near the North Cape, usually after a succession of heavy 

 northerly gales. Few Europeans, however, have seen it in 

 New^ Zealand waters, and the only specimen obtained, so far 

 as I know, is one shot by Mr. Henry Mair near the Three 

 Kings Islands, and now in the possession of Sir Walter 

 Buller. 



Yvhen at the Kermadec Islands last year Mr. Bell informed 

 me that the tropic bird breeds regularly on Sunday Island, 

 arriving in October and remaining until the close of summer. 

 I therefore inserted the species m my list on his authority. 

 I have now received from him several roughly-prepared 

 skins and some eggs which prove that it has been cor- 

 rectly identified. Its appearance, habits, and geographical 

 distribution are too well known to require mention here. 



The following record of the temperature at Sunday Island 

 in 1887-88 has been made by Mr. Bell, and forwarded by him 

 to Mr. Percy Smith, Assistant Surveyor-General. As no 

 meteorological observations of any kind have been pre- 



