THE OSPREY. 



place, so that the flock was steadily increasing in 

 <lirect ratio with our approach to the island. 



When we had anchored the booms and rigging 

 were soon taken possession of, and choice points 

 of observation were constantly fought for during 

 all the hours of day light while we were about the 

 island. Nor was it possible to discourage the 

 intimacy. If a booby was driven off the rail aft 

 it immediately drove another away forward and 

 took its perch, vociferating loudly at the impu- 

 dence of man that he should so presume to dis- 

 turb the rightful owner of this lone rock. 



In rowing to or from shore a booby almost 

 invariably rode on the bow or stern of the skiff 

 if either was unoccupied, or if no better place 

 was offered, on the rail beside the oarsman, as 

 several times happened. If one remained quiet 

 . for a few minutes a boobv would be very apt to 

 light on his head or shoulder, where it remained 

 as long as the person did not disturb it. On one 

 occasion I was hauling a dredge from the stern 

 of the skiff when a booby lit on my back as I bent 

 over, peering down into the water over my 



WEBSTER'S BOOBY ON NEST. 

 The bird is seen disgorging flying ti. h i he s-taple f ood r f 

 the'cean birds of these islands), as Ihey uflen do wnen 

 disturbed on their nests. 



sticks and twigs. On San Benidicto they were 

 m colonies of tive or six to twenty, all placed on 

 bunches of rank grass or on small rocks among 

 the bunches of grass, as shown on the photo- 

 graph, in which the bird is in the act of dis- 

 gorging a flying fish. The set was always one 

 in this species, tliough often two with the others. 



On Clarion Island the Webster's were in much 

 larger colonies, of twenty-five to one hundred 

 birds, and nearly always the nests were in small 

 trees. Many of the birds were found dead where 

 they had become entangled in the stiff branches, 

 or caught among the thorns and unable to ex- 

 tricate themselves. 



The nests of Brewster's Booby were all alike — 

 hollows in the sand or gravel, with a small quan- 

 tity of grass or vegetation. The Blue-faced 

 Boobv seems to nest somewhat later than the 



BLLE-IWCED DOOLIES. 



shoulder. As the net came up empty the bird 

 uttered a contemptuous squack. an echo perhaps, 

 of my own expression of disgust, and flew away. 



On Benidicto and Socorro Islands all three of 

 the species mentioned were nesting, the Web- 

 ster's being most common and Brewster's being 

 next in abundance, but on Clarion Island, 240 

 miles west of Socorro, no Brewster's were seen, 

 though the other species were even more abimd- 

 ant than on Benidicto. About their nests their 

 contempt for the genus homo was even niore 

 plainly shown. Most of the birds would leave 

 the nest if somewdiat disturbed. For example, a 

 vigorous kick would dislodge even the most stub- 

 born, but not until it had disgorged one or more 

 flying fish, which form the staple diet of all sea 

 birds in this region. 



The Webster's Boobys were incubating when 

 we arrived at San Benidicto. and a few nests 

 with eggs of Brewster's were found, though 

 most of the latter, together with all the Blue- 

 faced, were guarding empty nests. The nests o' 

 the Webster's were more or less bulky affairs of 





BREWSTER'S BOOHY .\ND NEST. 



