2Gii Dr. W. M. Crowl'oot on Ike Breediuy-hubits 



across a number close together on the sand. The nestlings 

 are almost of the same colour as the parent birds. These 

 Terns are not tame, and cannot be taken off the nests like 

 A. melanogenys. I have taken the eggs as early as the 26th 

 of September, but I think they begin to lay sooner, and I 

 found an egg incubated on Philip Island on June 15th, so 

 that the breeding-period extends from September to January 

 for certain. The birds frequent these islauds all the year 

 round. 



Sterna fuliginosa, Gm. 



The Sooty Tern, or "Whale-bird ^^ of the islanders, is the 

 commonest sea-bird here. It commences to lay in September, 

 and breeds in colonies, generally on the sand. The eggs are 

 sometimes laid so close to each other that one can hardly 

 walk between them ; they are also laid on ledges of rock, 

 but generally near the water. On Philip Island there is a 

 bit of sandy beach which is always covered with these birds. 

 Occasionally one sees an attempt at a nest, such as a few 

 twigs or dry grass in a little heap under the egg ; but gene- 

 rally they are placed on the bare sand. One e^^ only is 

 laid. These eggs vary greatly, both in size and colour. On 

 an average they measure 2*1 inches by 1"4, but two speci- 

 mens, which were distinctly double-yolked, measured 2*5 

 inches by 1'55. A few specimens out of a series of nearly 

 one hundred are white, with a faint tinge of green, and with- 

 out any spots or markings of any kind ; but most of them 

 are richly marked with reddish-brown spots and blotches. 

 The yolk is of a deep red colour, and this character will 

 always serve to distinguish these eggs, when fresh, from those 

 of the Noddy Tern, of which the yolk is bright yellow, 



GyGIS CANDIDA (Gm.). 



The " Little White Sea-bird " of the Norfolk-Islanders is a 

 very interesting bird. It is said in some places to breed 

 in colonies, but it certainly does not do so here. It lays its 

 egg on trees, and here and there one finds two or three trees 

 occupied in the same valley. I have seen eleven trees used 

 in one locality ; but I never saw two eggs on one tree, though 



