NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 835 



from which rose a cloud of himch'ods of beautiful birds, which hovered 

 overlio.id with querulous cries. My dcliglit can be better imagined than 

 described when 1 saw they were Roseate TemSj and that the ridge was 

 dotted with their eggs in doublets. 



The following is the extract from my note book : " Graceful (Roseate) 

 Terns in companies of scores found nesting on jiaralkl ridges of dead 

 coral forming the naiTowest part of Pelsart Island, Houtnian's Abrollios, 

 23rd December, 188'J. Birds uttering usual shrieking cries. Eggs 

 two, but sometimes one, the nest being a hollow made in the rough 

 coral, filled with finer coral, shells, &c. Coral not the usual ci-eam- 

 coloiu' or white, but bluish-grey, as if from long exposiu'e to the elements, 

 and sustaining patches of lichen (Lecidea). On an adjacent ridge were 

 a few Temlets ( Sterva nereis) breeding; eggs two, sometimes one. 

 Young in down of the Roseate white luidenieath, rest of sm-face shghtly 

 mottled; feet and bill pink. Eyes dark in both species." 



Pelsai-t Island was named after the captain of the " Batavia," which 

 came to grief on or near the island in 1629, and became one of the most 

 remai'kable and romantic wrecks on record. llie exact numbers are 

 not known ; but about forty pei-sons perished by di'owning, one hundred 

 and twenty-five were murdered, about twenty killed in the fight, and 

 sixty executed. 



Since my visit, Mr. Beddoe^ tells me he has observed the Graceful 

 Terns nesting in April and Jime as well as December. 



643. — Sterna media, Horsfield. — (603) 

 LESSER CRESTED TERN. 



Figurr. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 25. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 86. 



Prerious Descriftians of Eggs. — Hume : Nests and Eggs Indian Birds 

 (1875), also (Gates ed.) vol. iii., p. 299 (1890) ; Legge : Birds 

 of Ceylon, p. 1032 (iSSo) ; Campbell : Southern Science Record 

 (1883), also Nests and Eggs Austn. Birds, pi. 3, fig. 603 (1S83) ; 

 North : Rec. Austn. Mus., vol. ii., p. 20 (1892). 



Geographical Distrihution. — Seas of North-west Australia, Northern 

 Ten-itorv, Queensland, and New South Wales; also Malayan Aixhi- 

 pelago. Lower Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, islands in the 

 Indian Ocean, East Africa to Madagascar-, Red Sea, and the 

 MediteiTanean. 



Jest. Merely a depression on a sand bank or ridge of silted-up dead 



coral. In colonies, almost as close to each other as the birds can con- 

 veniently sit. 



Eggs. Clutch, one ; oval or round oval in form ; texture of shell 



coarse ; surface without gloss ; coloiu', whitish or pinkish-white, moder- 

 ately blotched and spotted with sepia or reddish-bro^vn and purplish 



