^°'iS"l DAVIS, Notes from HHIIs Island 185 



present than have been seen previously. The previous egg- specimen 

 was taken on November 25th, 1921. Only a very few of these birds 

 were nesting at that time, possibly a dozen; now there are consider- 

 ably over 100. 



March 26th, 1922. — Further observation makes it necessary to 

 modify above. Some of the nests are built on the tops of bushes, 

 but the majority are on top of the grass en the lower ground at the 

 two ends of the island. During the last week I had an opportunity 

 of obsei-ving these birds closely. They are a light fawn coloured 

 brown, with white markings on the upper part of head and neck, which 

 blend into the brown — no sharp line. The bii'd has a white eyelid 

 (lower) and a small white round mark en the upper lid. The tail 

 feathers are a very dark brown or black. The only difference I 

 notice between sexes is that the male bird has a bigger head than 

 the female and apparently does not work. The female works very 

 hard transporting material for the nest, which I have observed to 

 consist of bits of grass, wood, shell, coral and brown paper. It is 

 remarkable how much material may be transported from the beach 

 to other parts of the island in this way. The male bird sits on the 

 bushes during the morning, but apparently goes fishing in the after- 

 noon. He is net seen then, although the nest-builders are still at 

 work. I noted that the birds readily steal material from an un- 

 watched nest, and was much impressed by the soldier-like attitude 

 of a female, which, having completed a fine nest on the bushes, 

 mounted guard close to it and made a terrific din when any other 

 bird came near it. 



March 27th, 1922. — A small eg^^ was taken from a Noddy Tern's 

 nest at the N.W. end of the island. There was nothing in the ap- 

 pearance of the nest or bird to attract notice cr to account for the 

 curious, appai-ently malformed egg. When blown, the egg had not a 

 yolk. These birds are all laying at present, eggs being visible all 

 over the island. 30/3/22. — An ordinary egg is now seen in this 

 nest. 



March 29th, 1922. — There is a wonderful variety of nest common 

 with this bird; some are most elaborately built with great care on 

 top of a bush, others ai'e just a few straws laid on the grass; others 

 again noted for the first time yesterday on the coral beach, the bird 

 just sitting on the egg surrounded with coral rubble. 



Fregata ariel. Lesser Frigate-Bird. — The Frigate-Birds do not ap- 

 parently nest on this island, but are generally to be seen about in 

 pairs, flying at a considerable height, watching the White Gannets 

 upon which they prey, swooping down on them and pecking at them 

 until the Gannets disgorge the contents of their stomachs. The 

 Frigate-Bird often catches the fish vomited up before it reaches the 

 sea or ground, as the case may be. They are very swift on the wing. 

 Waiting until a Gannet is observed returning home, they swoop down 

 on this unlucky bird with incredible swiftness. They only attack 

 birds on the wing, and apparently the only chance of escape the 

 Gannets have is to land, which for some reason they seem very re- 

 luctant to do anywhere but at the rookery, although they are often 

 chased down into the sea. In this case the Frigate hovers around 

 until the Gannet rises. Very few escape surrendering their fish, and 

 several have been observed with nasty wounds, apparently caused 

 by the beak of the Frigate-Bird. 



The Frigate-Birds never land on the ground, but perch on poles, 

 wireless masts, or wind vanes. They do not apparently catch fish 

 for themselves, but live entirely by preying on the Gannets. There 

 are as many as 15 of them to be seen at times, but usually about 

 four. 



