472 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. 50. 



species are associated with the pelicans. A few are often seen stand- 

 ing among a group of pelicans resting on a hillside. They not 

 uncommonly accompany the pelicans in flight, and I have seen them 

 joining with the same birds in the characteristic bathing act. When 

 flying from the land the nebouxi rarely rises except after using its 

 feet on the ground for a few yards, just as the pelicans do; yet they 

 will rise at once from the surface of the water, and without the 

 slightest apparent difficulty or delay. On the whole, the larger 

 gannet is less active in flight and far inferior to tl^e white gannet in 

 grace and elegance of form and body. 



The nests are not made in compact rookeries, but are widely scat- 

 tered over the hills and valleys for many square miles of the island and 

 are interspersed with nests of gaviotas (pi. 56, fig. 1, and pi. 60). As 

 with the other species, no labor appears to be expended in the con- 

 struction of the nest. The eggs or young are usually found in a 

 slight hollow in the ground which is, however, apparently but an 

 incidental result of the movements and the deposits of the nesting 

 birds. In the newly formed nest with a single egg, the hollow is 

 scarcely perceptible, but with longer use the nest becomes very 

 distinct. After the young birds are able to stand and to move about, 

 all traces of a nest disappear until soon there is no clue as to where 

 the eggs were laid. 



The nests contained from 1 to 3 eggs or young; thus, of 54 nests 

 examined, 18 contained 3 eggs or young birds, 25 contained 2 eggs 

 or young, while 11 had only 1 egg or 1 nestling. In no case did the 

 young birds, whether 2 or 3, seem to be of the same age — there was 

 always a series, as if hatched at different times. (See pi. 60, fig. 2.) 

 Of 39 nests without imhatched eggs, 12 had 3 young, 19 had but 2, 

 and 8 had only 1. The eggs are pale blue, having a distinctly blue 

 shell mostly covered by a thin bluish chalky coating. The form is 

 various but usually ovoid and rather elongate. The measurements 

 of several eggs were as follows: 



Dimensions, in millimeters, of eggs of S. nebouxi. 



A very small egg that measured only 49 by 35 mm. was found to 

 have no yolk. 



The adult birds of this species excel all other birds of the islands 

 in the boldness with which they wiU defend their young. If only 



