280 Mr. F. G. Penrose 07i a Collection of 



(Saunders, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 797). The eggs of this form, 

 which are somewhat large for the size of the bird, differ from 

 those of all other Terus, being of a much darker ground- 

 colour, and very distinctly scrolled. They were found on 

 ledges on the side of Boatswain-bird Island; and each bird 

 had but one egg. There were not many pairs ; and they kept 

 quite distinct from each other and from the enormous num- 

 ber of lesser Noddies [Anous melanogenys) . 



Noddy [Anous stolidus) . 



Two adults, nine eggs. 



These birds were not numerous, and only bred in company 

 with a few Gannets on some small rocky islets off the north- 

 west corner of Ascension, each pair keeping to themselves 

 and to the care of their solitary egg. 



The eggs are rough and dull, and may be easily distin- 

 guished from Wideawakes^, in which the surface is smooth 

 and shining, the ground-colour being in the Anous more 

 cream-coloured ; and the markings are less varied^ gene- 

 rally small, and situated at the larger end of the egg. 



Angus melaxogenys. 



Fourteen adults, one egg. 



These birds, by far the most interesting portion of the col- 

 lection, require some detailed notice. The first obtained by 

 Mr. Gill were shot flying over Mars Bay. Not knowing 

 what they were, he showed them to Mr. Unwin, who said 

 that they were Sterna hucocapilla, and that they had never 

 been known to visit the island before. Had they done 

 so, Mr. Unwin would have been sure to have noticed them. 

 But when, on the 4th of January, 1878, Mr. Gill visited Boat- 

 swain-bird Island, the face of the rock was literally covered, 

 and looked quite black with the birds, which Avere then in 

 the height of their breeding-season, and almost every avail- 

 able ledge was occupied by its row of birds, each pair by their 

 single egg. Now just about the same time the previous year 

 Mr. Unwin visited the island, and not a single bird was then 

 there ; so it seems as if this were their first visit to the island. 

 The birds brought home were all shot at Mars Bay early iu 



