NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 839 



bird-lime. The sea rolls caJnily below. The day is superbly hue ; a 

 gentle breeze is flicking the sky with ciniis-clouds — just a light a photo- 

 grapher loves — so here i plant the camera aud ehiuice an exposure of 

 the bird colony. (See illustration.) Approaching nearer, the majority 

 ot the bu'ds rise from their egg or newly-liatched yoimg, flymg 

 backwai'ds, forwards, and overhead with clamorous voices. There are 

 no nests except a slight depression in the sand or pig-face weed. A 

 single egg only is deposited, as hu'ge. as a domestic fowl's, which is of a 

 stone-coloiu", marked beautifully with dark, fantastical hieroglyphics. 

 For cuiiosity's sake I measure the distance betwixt the nests : an 

 average of six gave 14 inches apart — hai'dly the total length of the bird, 

 which is 19 inches. The yoimg in down are dear little objects, being 

 white underneath, aud mottled on the back with gi"ey, brown, and black. 

 Overheiid a pair of the lai'ger Caspian Terns, with blood-red bills opened 

 wide, are madly screecliing, making themselves lieard above their 

 confreres, the cause of their sohcitude being a pair of downy chicks, 

 near the lai'ge rookery. 



A few of the Crested Terns breed on Abrolhos Islands further north. 



Goidd mentions that this line Tern attracted the notice of Macgillivray 

 while cruismg in ToiTes Sti'ait, who supphed the following information : — 

 " This handsome Tern, which supplies the place of the S. ijoliocerca vipon 

 the north-east coast, is generally distxibvited from Lizard Island to the 

 southward, as far northward as Bramble Quay, and it is also foiuid in 

 Endeavour Strait. It was breeding on Lizard Island in the beginning 

 of May, and on Raine Island in June, when both eggs and young bu'ds 

 were procured ; in the latter locality I found it in three small parties, 

 upon a low ridge on one side of the island, depositing its single egg in 

 a shght hollow scooped out of the gi-oimd, in a bare, smooth spot, 

 sm-rounded with herbage. The bird was so much more shy than the 

 Sooty Tern aud Noddy that I was obliged to resort to the giui to prociu-e 

 specimens, as it would not allow me to approach sufficiently near to tlu'ow 

 a short stick with effect." 



There must be some astonishing rookeries of Crested Terns within 

 the hmits of the Indian Empu-e, for Mr. Hume states that a boat sent 

 to a certain island for him by Capt. Wise, on the 1st Jvme, brought back 

 no less than 3,000 eggs, and the men said that they had not half robbed 

 the rocks. From another quarter some fishermen brought 7,000 fresh 

 eggs of the Crested Tern, which they were offering for sale as food at 

 at the rate of sixty for one iiipee. 



The birds possibly group into such large colonies to better protect 

 themselves against the attacks of marauding gulls and other natural 

 enemies. 



