on some Bahama Birds.



9i



closer inspection, had approached to within 20 yards of the

nearest bird when I stumbled, and thus gave them the alarm.


“ As soon as they saw me they all bunched up together,

their long necks stretched up as high as possible, and all I could

see was a mass of living scarlet streaks. Although I remained

absolutely quiet, the birds would not settle down again ; at first

four or five, then the layer about four deep nearest me, then the

next layer, and so on and so on, slowly rose expanding their jet

black wings and displaying, as they did so, the pink of their

backs and the gorgeous scarlet of their under wing-coverts.

Thus they went slowly filing off in a long irregular column till

not one was left, and, as they wended their way across the sky,

one saw first the contrast of black and scarlet till it gave place to

an intermittent line of red, gradually fading away in a pink haze

on the eastern horizon. Such a blaze of moving colour, set in the

deep blue of a tropical sky in the light of the afternoon sun,

forms a spectacle of natural beauty which cannot be surpassed.”


The margins of the lagoons and rock}'' shores of the

islands are populated by large cosmopolitan flocks of waders ;

many of them, like the Grey Plover, Turnstone, Sanderling, etc.,

being common English species; others, such as the Yellow-

shanks, Red-breasted Snipe, and Willett, belong to the shores of

America, the last-named, however, being a resident in many

parts of the Bahamas. Finally, we have the Black-necked

Stilt, a local and somewhat scarce wader belonging to the sub¬

tropical regions of the world, and which nests sparingly by a few

of the lagoons. This last is a very noisy bird and, when

disturbed, flies round and round, uttering loud and shrill cries

not unlike the call of the Redshank.


We must now leave the lagoons and turn our attention to

the isolated rocks and Cays which are scattered about throughout

the group. In the early part of the winter they are absolutely

devoid of bird-life, but towards February many of them are

resorted to as breeding stations by large flocks of Frigate Birds

and Boobies. I was not fortunate enough to meet with any

Frigate Bird colonies, although individuals may constantly be

seen high up in the air. At Abaco, where I was staying for a



