AVES. 369 



SYSTEMATIC LIST. 



1. Puffinus persicus. Fauna, Brit. Ind., iv, p. 356. 



In every one of the three adult specimens brought home the primary quill is slightly 

 (about O'l inch) longer than the second. The longest of the under-tail coverts are sooty. 

 In one specimen the shorter under-tail coverts are paler, with whitish outer webs ; white 

 towards the base of both webs. In the two other specimens these coverts are dark, sooty, 

 just visibly tipped with white. 



" This bird was found breeding in gi-eat numbers in Difuri and Olivelifuri to the east 

 of Fadifolu Atoll. The single white egg was placed at the slightly hollowed-out end of a 

 hole, about a yard deep, either in the sand or under a coconut or other tree. The burrows 

 appeared to be those of a large crab (Gardiosoma carnifex), that had been by some means 

 dispossessed. On Dec. 29, 1899, we opened several of the holes, in some finding crabs and 

 in others eggs or young birds. The latter are regularly taken and eaten by the natives of 

 the atoll." 



2. Phaethon Upturns. Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. B. M., xxvi, p. 453 (1898). Adult, nestling 

 and egg. 



The above specimens of this Tropic-bird were taken at Hebaridu, South Mahlosmadulu 

 Atoll, on Nov. 24, 1899. " In a hollowed-out branch of a Tulip-tree {Hernandea peltata) I 

 caught three of these birds sitting. The branch sloped upwards slightly, and the nests were 

 situated above, but within sight of one another. The nests were made of the decaying wood 

 with sticks, pieces of grass and coconut leaves. The top bird was a female with one nestling, 

 the middle bird a male with an empty nest and the lower bird a female with 1 egg. The 

 male sat just as tightly as the females and indeed fought harder than they did when I 

 removed him. The females I allowed to go free, when they at once proceeded to a Pandanus 

 tree, up which th§y climbed, so as to get a jump off for flight. My boys, curiously enough, 

 brought down from a neighbouring tree 2 females and 1 male, both the former with young." 



The species was seen in nearly every atoll in the group, even in Addu. At Hulule, 

 Male Atoll, it circled overhead daily, filling the air with its shrill shrieks. 



*3. Fregata ariel. Fauna Brit. Ind., iv, p. 338. The Smaller Frigate-bird. 



Solitary birds of this species were frequently seen in the Maldives. Its only breeding- 

 place seemed to be at Olugeri at the extreme south of Mahlosmadulu. This is an unin- 

 habited island covered with large timber trees {Galophylluni inophyllum and Terminalia catappa), 

 in the tops of which the nests are placed. The appearance is not unlike an immense rookery, 

 allowing for the difference in the more massive mode of growth of the above trees as com- 

 pared with English timber. On Nov. 13, 1899, during our stay at Turadu, a neighbouring 

 island, the people and our crew made a night expedition to the rookery, and brought back 

 about 40 young birds nearly fledged. No eggs were found. 



4. Butorides javanica. Fauna Brit. Ind., iv, p. 395. 



The Little Green Heron is found in every island of the Maldives, where there is dense 

 jungle, being observed in the Mahlos, Miladumadulu, Male, Nilandu, Suvadiva and Addu Atolls. 



