during a Cruise in the Caribbean Sea. 315 



settled down close to the rock. lu the act of settling their 

 white under parts became for a moment visible^ and then 

 instantly the birds remained motionless, some of them 

 crouching close to the rock, and as if by magic seeming to 

 almost disappear under my eyes. Several times, after 

 intentionally turning away, it was difficult to locate the 

 birds on looking round again, although they were only twenty 

 feet or less away. 



LiMONlTES MINUTILLA (Vicill.). 



Limonites minutilla (Vieill,) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxiv. p. 548 (1896). 



Common on the shores. I shot one example for 

 identification. 



Ardea herodias, Linn. 



Ardea herodias Sharpe, Cat. B, Brit. Mus. xxvi. p. 80 

 (1898). 



I saw several of these large blue Herons fishing on the 

 islands, but did not shoot any. This bird seems to prefer 

 rock-strewn shores to the banks of rivers and streams, and 

 will fly enormous distances in order to feed on the abundance 

 of shell-fish and other food which it finds there. In the 

 Bermudas there is a regular annual migration from the 

 mainland, and I have seen many individuals along the shores 

 there. This entails a flight of close on six hundred miles 

 across an open sea, without a landmark to guide the 

 birds. The migration occurs in spring, and I was told by 

 a naturalist on the island that later in the year they all 

 disappear. 



SuLA suLA (Linn.). 



This Gannet was present on the smaller islands of the 

 group in large numbers, and was breeding. It invariably 

 lays its eggs on the ground, and makes a more elaborate 

 nest than Sula cyanops, lining a slight depression in the 

 soil among the rocks with roots and pliant twigs. Either 

 one or two eggs are laid. I have photographs of these birds 

 on their nests taken within four feet of them. 



