suLA. 343 



Sula cyanops. 



MASKED GAXXET. 

 Bysporus ci/Kiiopf, Suntlevall, Plijsio. Sails. Tidsk., Vol. 1., p. 218, pi. v. (1837). 

 SiiJii. II, rsoimin, Gould, Pnx-. Zool. Soc, 184i'>. p. 2 1 ; /■/., Uds. Austi'., fol. Vol. VJI,, pi. 77 (l8-t,s). 

 Si(la ,-ii.iHnps. Gould, H;ui.llik. Bds. .Viistr., Vnl. H., p. .")l)r, (ISG.^); ( >gilvie-G rant, Cat. Bds. Brit. 

 Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. 4:10 (181)8) : .Sharpp, Haiid-1. lids., Vol. I., p. 237 (1899). 

 AdI'LT .m.\i>k. — (ii-inral i-.itniir aljui-f tuid Ue.loiv pur,' irliifr ,• jn-iiiiarii's aiK? fhrir cofer/s <lark 

 hrmra ; S'-coiulari' s aii'l iji-'-i/- r j. ci.'.s-o/" )i/)/'i"r /riii j-cjrf'rh hrn/rn : /ni/feaf/i,'/-^ broiviiis/i-hluck, iidlh 

 till- Ixisi-s uf fhr iruti-dJ mi'-i /i-liite, irliicli hac-' ahu llf slinfiA ivliitt', (\i:,v/i/ iit tlr' lip. Total h'iiiil]i -j'f 

 inches, /vimj IS, fail ?'.7, in// 4'-', 'ii('.v't,< .'••)'. 



Adult femai.k. — '/Vc .*•./>>>■ nrf ahk' in ii1iiiiin'i'\ 



Dhti-iliiiliiin. — Coasts of Nortii-western .\ustralia, Northern Territory of South Australia, 

 North Queensland, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island. 



/"l^HE Mask'ed Gannet is found throughout the tropical seas of the world. In .Vustralian 

 -L waters Mr. f. Y. Tunney found it breeding in May, 1901, on Hedout Island, opposite 

 the De Grey River, on the Nortli-western .Australian coast. Further north Mr. James Walker, 

 R.N., of 11. M. SurveyiuL; Ship '■ Pen^'uin," found it breeding in company with other species 

 of sea-birds on .\delc Island, lying off the coast from King Sound, on the 2nd May, 1891. To 

 the north-east of .\ustralia it has been found breeding on Kaine Islet, and a specimen was 

 obtained by the Chevert Lxpedition on Bramble Cay. In his "Tabular List of .Vusttalian 

 Birds " Dr. IC. I'. Kanisay has recorded it from various parts of the Queensland coast, also from 

 New South Wales and N'ictoria, on what authority for the two latter States I Icnow not. Gould's 

 evidence that he once saw it on approaching Sydney Heads, but unfortunately at too great a 

 distance for a successful shot, has not bsen confirmed by subsequent observers, and is altogether 

 a too slender ground for its admittance into the New South Wales avi-fauna. On the other hand 

 Sula Si-rrator is not uncommon about Sydney Heads. ,\bout four hundred and twenty miles to the 

 east of it Messrs. Etheridge and party found S.iyaiiops breeding in 1S87, and collected specimens 

 on behalf of the Trustees of the Australian Museum, on one of the Admiralty Islets lying off the 

 coast of Lord Howe Island. Subsequently in the same year Mr. E. H. Saunders found it 

 breeding in the same locality, and secured a number of eggs for the Australian Museum. Dr. 

 P. H. Metcalfe, late Resident Medical Officer of Norfolk Island for very many years, found it 

 breeding on the adjacent Philip and Nepean Islands. 



In the Report of the \'oyage of H.M.S. " Challenger," Messrs. Sclater and Salvin quote Mr. 

 (now Sir) John iVIurray's, one of the naturalists of the e.\pedition, notes as follows : — " Sula I'yanops, 

 females, Raine Island. Eyes yellow, skin of the throat black, legs and feet slate colour. Stomach 

 contained fish and cuttlefish. This species was the most abundant of the Sulas at Raine Island. 

 It had its nests on the centre of the island. There were eggs in the nests, which were on the 

 ground, and merely a slight hole in the earth. Eggs of all these three species of Sula (S. 

 hiicogastcr, S. piscator, S. cyanops) were preserved. They are all very much alike. I marked the 

 eggs as they were taken from the nest, and when I saw the birds rise. It was difficult to separate 

 them when a lot of them got together. Sulas were noticed at sea in the Pacific from 18' N. to 

 17° S., and in the Atlantic from 20° N. to 12° S." 



P'rom information supplied by Dr. P. Herbert Metcalfe, late Resident Medical Officer on 

 Norfolk Island, Dr. W. M. Crowfoot wrote as follows of this species in "The Ibis":" — "This 

 Gannet breeds on Nepean and Philip Islands, but not on Norfolk Island. It makes no nest, 



* Ibis. 1.SS5, p 2(19 . 



