NESTS AXD EGGS Oh AUSTKAtlAN BIRDS. 987 



728. — Slla rit^cATOR, Liunjeus. — (664) 

 RED-LEGGED GANNET. 



Eigure. — Gould; B^rds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 79. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 432. 

 Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Campbell : Victorian Naturalist 

 (1889); Sugars: Victorian Naturalist (1S95). 



<,'i(>[/r(i/jhic(t/ Distribution. — Seas of North-west Australia. Northern 

 Territory and Nortli Queeiishuid ; also the tropical and sub-tropical seas 

 of the world, except the Pacific coast of America. 



Nest. — Flat, scantily constnicted of coarse twigs, &c., and placed 

 upon the grovuid or on clumps of herbage or low trees. 



Effffs. — Clutch, one usually ; oval in shape, or slightly more com- 

 pressed at one end; textiu'e of shell coarse; surface without gloss; 

 colour, a dull-white limy coating covers a bluish-wliite sliell, which may 

 b; partially visible in placesi where the coating has been scraped or chipped 

 off. Dimensions in inches: 2'33 x ]"56. 



Observations. — ^The Red-legged Gannet is a common species along the 

 northern shores of Australia and breeds in gi'eat numbers on Raine 

 Islet, apparently a locality rich in Gannets of no less than three varieties. 



Again Gould has to quote the excellent obsei-vations of Macgillivray, 

 who says ; " With the exception of one bird, which perched ou the rigging, 

 and was caught while at sea in the neighboiu'hood of the Keeling Islands, 

 we foimd this species only on Raine's Islet, a vegetated sand-bank in the 

 line of the Great Bairier Reef. When we landed there, on the 29tli 

 of May, it appeared tO' me that the breeding season was then over ; but 

 I was fortunate enoiigh to find a solitaiy bird sitting upon its nest, 

 which contained a single egg. The nest consisted of a few roots of a 

 creeper, common on the island, forming a platform eighteen inches in 

 diameter, laid upon a tuft of herbage. A few days after this, the 

 Gannets, having been much molested, entirely deserted the island 

 during the day, retiuTiing at night in a body of several hundreds, to 

 roost on the ground and low bushes near the centre of the island." 



Dr. Thos. H. Streets, from observations made of the Red-legged 

 Gannet diu'ing the United States' Nortli Pacific Surveying Expedition, 

 1873-75, writes: "Locality, Fanning Group, North Pacific. Several 

 specimens were taken at sea, in the vicinity of this group of islands. 

 When far away from land, they flew aboard the ship in the evenings, 

 and roosted on the yai-d. They exliibited no sign of fear, but were 

 calmly captiu-ed by the man who went aloft. In the majority of our 

 specimens the tail is dark — it is white in the adidt plimiage. On 

 Palmyra Island, their principal breeding place, the period of their incu- 

 bation was over at the time of our visit, in December ; but the yoimg 

 were not yet fledged. The latter were very numerous, they covered 



