BERMUDA. 



25 



The only export of the Bermudas is vegetables ; potatoes, 

 onions and tomatos. These are said to be best in the world, and 

 they reach New York very early in the season and command a 

 very high price. The "Mudians" are, however, so lazy that they 

 do not grow enough potatoes for home consumption, and at the 

 time of our visit to the islands, at the same time that new 

 potatoes were being exported to New York, large quantities of 

 the former year's American crop were being imported in the 

 returning steamers. 



Some of the most conspicuous of the present land-birds of 

 Bermuda, such as the " Bed bird," or Cardinal, have been intro- 

 duced for ornamental effect. The birds most interesting to us 

 were the " Boatswain birds " (Phaethon flavirostris), since we 

 now met them in numbers for the first time, though we afterwards 

 became so familiar with them amongst the Pacific Islands and 

 elsewhere. The birds are white, a little smaller than our com- 

 monest English gull, and shaped more like a sea swallow or tern, 

 though allied to the gannets and cormorants ; in their tails are 

 two long narrow feathers of a reddish tint, which as the bird 

 flies, are kept extended behind, and give it a curious appearance. 



BOATSWAIN BIKD. 



The birds breed, more or less gregariously, in holes in the 

 rock formed by the weathering out of softer layers. It is easy 

 to secure them in the hole by clapping a cap over its mouth and 

 often both male and female can be caught together. It is how- 

 ever quite a different matter to get hold of them for stuffing : 

 their bills are very sharp and strong, and they fight furiously, 



