222 Transactions. — Zoology. 



ngaio and pohutuka\Ya are also made use of. Ouly one egg 

 is laid. Those sent to me measure ISOin. by l-25in. The 

 ground-colour is creamy- white, and on it are numerous rather 

 small spots of reddish-brown. The silvery-grey patch on the 

 top of the head of this species contrasts very vividly with the 

 sooty-black of the rest of the plumage. Ic seems to be not 

 uncommon about Norfolk Island, where it also breeds, but it 

 has not been previously recoi'ded from the limits of the Colony 

 of New Zealand. 



21. Little Noddy {Anous cincreHa, Gould). 



This was one of the commonest sea-birds at the time of 

 my visit in 1887, and was especially plentiful on the outlying 

 rocks. Dming om* stay we landed two or three times on 

 Meyer Island, so- often mentioned in these notes, and on eacli 

 occasion almost every ledge on the cliffs near the landing- 

 place was occupied by these birds, which watched our pro- 

 ceedings with the greatest curiosity. Small flocks of them 

 would every now and then leave their resting-places, fly back- 

 wards and forwards over our heads, noisily screaming all the 

 time, and then return to their quarters, to be quickly imitated 

 by another party. They were quite tame, allowing us to 

 approach within a few feet. On discharging a gun clouds of 

 them rose in the air, circling and wheeling about in the ut- 

 most confusion, but they soon quieted down. They were also 

 plentiful on Macaulay Island ; and it was pretty to look from 

 the clifi^ at the extreme western point of the island, which is 

 almost TOOft. in height, and see large colonies of them quietly 

 basking in the sun on inaccessible ledges hundreds of feet 

 below the spectator. According to Mr. Bell, they breed in 

 October and November, selecting ledges on the faces of the 

 clifl's. No nest whatever is made, the single egg being de- 

 posited in a slight natural hollow. One sent to me measures 

 l-7iu. by 1-liu. In colour it resembles the preceding species, 

 but is sKghtly darker, and the spots are much smaller and 

 more numerous. 



The common Noddy (Anons .•itolidus, L.) also probably 

 breeds in the group, as it is conmion in Norfolk Island, the 

 Tongan Islands, and elsewhere in Polynesia. 



22. Little ^YHITE Tern (J-rygis Candida, Gould). 



In vol. xxi. of the " Transactions of the New Zealand 

 Institute," p. 122, I have mentioned this species as regularly 

 breeding on Sunday Island, and have given particulars of its 

 nesting-habits as observed by Mr. Bell. Since then I have 

 received several skins and some more eggs ; but I have 

 no particulars of importance to add to the account then 

 given. 



