96 Mr. B. Alexander — Expedition 



Oceanodi'oma cryptoleucura, the burrows of which, liowever^ 

 ran further into the ground, besides being more tortuous. 

 Many liad young, while most of the eggs were well incubated. 

 Further up the island and towards the rocky headland, we 

 discovered Puffinus assimilis breeding, not only in holes, but 

 many beneath rocky boulders and in small clefts and over- 

 hanging rocks, while in one instance a bir^ had made its 

 nest beneath the boards of a tumble-down hut. In this last 

 case the nest contained a quantity of dry grass. / We next 

 turned our attention to the rocky headland itself, ''where 

 the steep sides had been here and there made hoary by the 

 hundreds of Gannets that peopled them. On the long narrow 

 ledges of rock facing the sea countless numbers of these 

 birds were standing in serried ranks, bolt upright. Wherever 

 a portion of this rock possessed a superficial covering of 

 earth they nested in dozens, hardly 2 feet intervening between 

 the nests. These consisted of a shallow depression made by 

 the bird itself, and further bordered by a fringe of small 

 pebbles and flakes of rock. Both sexes share in the incu- 

 bation, and we nearly always found the male on the nest 

 throughout the day. Incubation was well forward, nestlings 

 being in every hollow, but only one in each ; invariably 

 the second egg of the clutches had turned out wrong. 

 There were, nevertheless, many fresh eggs, but sad havoc is 

 constantly made among them by the fishermen Avhenever 

 they visit the island. The birds, too, do not escape moles- 

 tation, often being stoned on their nests and killed for eating 

 purposes. /The Tropic-bird {Phaethon aethereus) suffers in 

 the same way. 



The Gannet, however, is not the only inhabitant of this 

 headland. We found Phaethon (Bthereus breeding in small 

 numbers in suitable holes and clefts among different portions 

 of the rocks. On that particular day, when the sea wore but 

 a darker tone than the sky, it was a pretty sight to watch these 

 birds taking wide graceful circuits from their nest-holes out 

 across the sea, the glossy white of their plumage at once 

 striking the eye, while their two long rectrices, like slender 

 pennons, streamed out behind . Both sexes incubate, and while 



