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by his long beak, would throw him into the water, where he 

 would remain for some time, looking with great solemnity at his 

 persecutors, and then return to try his luck again. As I was 

 ])assing by his owner's house one day, he commenced tugging at 

 my trousers with his bill ; at first I did not understand wliat he 

 wanted, but noticing that the gate was shut, thought it possible 

 that he might wish it opened ; this I accordingly did, and he . 

 walked in at once, without stopping to thank me. This bird was 

 in immature plumage, })robably not more than a year old. 



Sula Jiher. In a former article, I stated that I thought Audu- 

 bon was mistaken in saying that this bird breeds at the Tortugas. 

 I am now positive that he was so. The time at which they lay 

 their efrgs, and the manner of constructino;, or rather not con- 

 structing, their nests, is entirely at variance with his account ; in 

 which, as I before stated, he has mistaken the nests of the Brown 

 Pelican for those of the Booby. The Boobies, as well as the 

 Dusky Petrels, always seek their food on the blue water ; at least 

 I never saw one on the bank ; and, as the distance across the gulf 

 is so short, they probably feed nearly as much on the Florida as on 

 the Bahama side ; and it is almost impossible that, agreeing as 

 they do in their manner of breeding wdierever I saw them at the 

 Bahamas, they should so change their habits at the Tortugas. 

 The eggs are laid, in most cases, by the 1st of February; the 

 bird makes no nest, not even an excavation in the soil. The eggs 

 are deposited indifferently on the sand, grass, or bare rock. My 

 first visit to one of their breeding-places was made on the 10th of 

 April, at St. Domingo Kay, which lies thirty-three miles south of , 

 Great Ragged Island, and is at the very extremity of the southern 

 point of the bank, entirely out of the range of vessels of any kind, 

 and is probably never visited, except occasionally by people from 

 Ragged Island, who go there to collect the eggs of the Noddy. 

 The kay is about thi-ee or four acres in extent, so low that in 

 storms it is entirely washed by the waves. It can only be ap- 

 proached at one spot, and that only in calm weather. At the 

 time of my visit, it was literally covered with Boobies, mostly 

 young ones ; of these, by far the greater part were fully 

 fledged, and could fly with ease, but were still dependent on the 

 parent birds for food. They kept by themselves, and were 

 perched upon the rocks all around the edge of the kay. The 



