664 THE BIRDS OF LORD HOWE AND NORFOLK ISLANDS, 



ground, in the most precarious position of all I saw. The stump 

 was so rotten that it swayed and creaked as my climber wormed 

 his way upward, and when the bird flew off, the egg stood 

 revealed balanced on such an attenuated point that its entire 

 outline could be distinctly seen against the background. The 

 surrounding vegetation was so dense that no breath of wind 

 could reach it, but had it been fated to hatch out, one wonders 

 how the young bird would have fared on such a slender support! 

 One egg, just chipping when found, was left to hatch out on 

 24th October. On the 31st I saw the young bird, a ball of black 

 down, squatting unconcernedly on the bare limb while its parents 

 were away searching for food, A week later it was still there, 

 and had then grown nearl}' as large as its mother, but was still 

 covered with the black down. Its mother flew up, and straddled 

 over it, vainly endeavouring to cover it. There it sat blinking 

 down at us, like a black picaninny in the arms of a white nurse! 

 The eggs vary in size very slightly, in comparison with those 

 of other Terns, and in colour-markings they varj' to a less striking 

 degree, maintaining the same general characteristics, but no two 

 individual eggs are exactly alike. Elliptical in shape, they differ 

 somewhat in length, but I have not seen any specimens approach- 

 ing an ovate shape, or any abnormall}' small specimens. 



The first egg was taken by me on the 17th October, but the 

 birds generally commence to lay a little earlier, and if robbed, 

 they lay again, but not until some weeks have elapsed. The 

 last egg taken for me during the 1908 9 season was procured on 

 the 28th February, 1909. 



Dimensions of six selected specimens showing the greatest 

 variation : — 



(1)1 9 X 1-28 (31st October, 1908). 

 (2)l-8 X 1 34 (15th December, 1908). 

 (3)l-8xl-2 (10th December, 1908). 

 (4)1-67 X 1-3 (15th December, 1908). 

 (5)1-66 X 1-22 (31st October, 1908). 

 (6)1-58 X 1-3 (31st October, 1908). 



