Mr. 0. Salvin on the Sea-birds of British Honduras. 379 



the whole windward side, is covered by low " bush/' A large 

 colony of Boobies {Sula piscator) hold entire possession of this 

 portion of the island, every tree having four or five nests in it. 

 By the time we had made acquaintance with some of the pilots, 

 and had taken a " long drink " of cocoa-nut milk (a luxury after 

 the stale water we had had to put up with on board the schooner), 

 it was mid-day ; yet we made our way through the trees to search 

 for Boobies' eggs. The sky was clear, and the heat intense, the 

 sea-breeze not yet blowing with any force, and the foliage not 

 being thick enough to afford much shelter from the scorching 

 rays of the sun. The Boobies, too, seemed affected by the heat, 

 and sat panting with open beaks ; some, still more overcome, 

 were resting against a branch, with their heads hanging down, 

 and eyes shut. At first I thought these were dead, but, on 

 stirring them up, succeeded in making them open their eyes ; I 

 could not, however, prevail upon them to get up ; they only 

 screwed their heads about with a sort of expression that seemed 

 to ask me what I meant. Over many of the nests one of the 

 old birds sat, and in the same trees the fully fledged young still 

 remained. The young were of every age, their plumage in- 

 cluding every stage, from the white down of the newly hatched 

 chick to the grey dress of the full-grown. In some few, still 

 older, the white dress of the adult was beginning to show itself. 

 The name Booby is most appropriate ; I never saw a bird with 

 less idea of getting out of one's way, or caring less for what one 

 did. Walking about under the trees was nothing; they hardly 

 condescended to look down : nor when we stirred them up 

 while taking a " siesta," pulled their tails, poked them off their 

 nests, and fought with them for their eggs, and bullied them in 

 every way, did we succeed in getting up any sort of excitement 

 in the colony. They took everything with the greatest indiffer- 

 ence, with a complaisant, grave expression that was laughable to 

 watch. And yet a Booby is no fool at fishing; rare sport they 

 must have of it, flying at the pace they do, and taking such 

 headers. It was too hot to climb to every nest within reach ; 

 and, after trying a few, we found that there was always a chance 

 of an egg in a nest upon which, and not near which, an old bird 

 sat. Even in this way, after a long search, we only secured 



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