345 



s. .p of br„ht yellow. and, .ur,n,n,„t«l by a sfaiglu nanow „hbo„ of o,.ee„ ,.-ass bein. .11 



t' t:; ^'^'"^ • • ; . ''''' '-''-''-' ^°^"'^^ ^y ^^ "- p-^— '- a,;;, ti. :i; ' ;; 



part ,.l tie populafon ol the ,sla„d. As we approached it in the sh.p, the number of birdsse n 

 was „u.ch greater than had ever before been observed bv us in tl's region, and sZ 

 wadn,g across the .-eef we could see then, hovenn. over the i.land n, a;e,f ct ll lU, Hi 



:Zt : ''T r\ '""" ^""- • • • ''- '"^ "^^^'^ ^^-^^ ^^--^ ^'- '■- -^ '■- ^s. .d 



andat.nter.^lsofafewyardsapart. were little communities of both species of Gan nets tie 

 w>dely.d,str,buted ' Booby,' .s„/„ /A.,and the bne da.h brown a:,d whue.s' n..,^- (Sun e all 

 en.a.e m n,cu at,on The two species usually nest separate, though occasion^, y ne : t 7o 

 o one md would be found in a group of the other, apparently not regarded as intruders. Bo 

 bud. n,ade very s,m,lar rude nests of seaweed, about two feet „, d.anreter, and not exceedn,. 

 he or four mches ,n he.ght ; but in n.any cases the eggs were deposited in a mere sli-ht 

 ollowont e sand, w,t out any attempt at a hning. Two eggs were the usual nun,be I?, d 



:;:t^^":r I'^t^-'^'^'n':'"^^^^ rme rather, arger and more elongate m outhle 

 those of 6.,/,/.;. Both were ot the san.e greenish-white colour, with a dense white chalky 



young birds, some hatched only that morning and 



,.^,, >, , , . _ , -" " —^^ ^^'"^ adults, and densely clothed with pure white 



do.n. The behav.our oi the two buds uas stnkingly dUferent-the ,V. ,l.r only gi.^ ven, 



•-^■^~-'"-'" " '"i^t; loioui, wiin a 

 coatmg. X ery untny of the nests contan,ed young birds. son,e hatched only that mornin. and 

 erfectiy naked others were half the si.e of the adults, and densely clothed with pure 



down. IP hphn\Mr.iir ,a il,,. I...., 1 ■.. i_ . . , t^ -^ 



a teeble croak or two and then scutthng awkwardly olf the nest away out to'sea re^turnim 



owever, ,n a tew munues. ^. „.„„.^. on the other hand, n.ade a herce resist nee, Jtm^ 

 ..agelya a st.d< presented to it, and uttenng a succession of loud harsh croaks, o rat,^ 

 b ks, whde the b,rd had to be fairly shoved off the nest before u would ,uit its e^. or ~ 

 All the t,me undreds of the Gannets. chiedy of the brown species, were' on the wm! "^Z 

 over ead w,ththe,,u,e,nessof 0.,s,and often coming wUhin two or three yards of ,. as I 

 stn.lled along the beach. 



From Ihoken H,ll. South-western New South Uale. I.,. W. Mae„llivray wrote •-■' I 



ound S.la nw.,/. nesting all over Ranu. I.let on the 3.th October, r„o, next n, nund-er to the 



^ r.^::" • -^^: "-"'--' -^^ ^m^st fuHy feathered young b.rds. Their nestin! 



iMh.ts we: „ every way sn,„lar to those of the Brown Gannet, the nests being depressions '^n 



sandorso, ofab,xUe,ght to twelve inches in diameter, w.th a depth .,f about three or four 



>nches. mater.al bemg collected round about as incubation proceeded. Fully two-thirds of the 



eggs examu.ed were „t pairs, and as with the Brown Gannet. many of the singles were due to 



e attenfon of te Gulls. The nestling, hatched naked, soon gets a coverin:of white d w 



e mask bemg s hghtly darker than that of the Brown Gannet nestling. The adult bird haj 



the same hab.t of disgorging lish on being interfered with." 



My experience of the Masked Gannet was gained while at Lord Howe Island. Eagerly 

 had a party of visitors from Sydney scanned the sky and the surrounding seas, intent on viskin' 

 one of the Koach Islands or Admiralty Rocks, six in number, lying about two miles from tl^e 

 shore, on the north end of the island. For nearly a fortnight there was intermittent rain and 

 sunshine, and the cloud-capped tops of Mounts Lidgbird and Gower, the latter havin^ an 

 altitude of .550 leet, were seldom visible. At intervals the winds lashed into httge waves even 

 he usua cain waters within the reef, completely hiding the last remnant of thederelict rVench 

 frigate La Aleurthe, and came thundering into long breakers on the beach. On other days 

 the sun shone and the placid-lookmg seas were like a sheet of glass, but the water could be seen 

 nsing and fal ing ominously up and down the sides of the Admiralty Rocks, warnin.^ the 

 experienced islanders that there was too much of a swell on, and that no boat could land^ip.n 

 them. At last, on the morning of the :5th October, lyto, the welcome news was received ,0 

 be ready at Ned s Beach punctually at ro a.m., as the seas were favourable for makin.< a landm.^ 

 In addition to the lour visitors from Sydney, our party included Mr. Percival k' Pedlev a 



