416 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



eggs. In a great many instances the repaired nests formed 

 masses nearly two feet in height, and yet all of them had only 

 a slight hollow for the eggs, broken shells of which were found 

 among the entire ones, as if they had been purposely placed 

 there. The birds did not discontinue their labours, although 

 there were nine or ten of us walking among the bushes ; and 

 when we had gone a few yards into the thicket, thousands of 

 them flew quite low over us, some at times coming so close as 

 to enable us to catch a few of them with the hand. On one 

 side might be seen a Noddy carrying a stick in its bill, or 

 picking up something to add to its nest ; on the other seve- 

 ral were seen sitting on their eggs unconscious of danger, 

 while their mates brought them food. The greater part rose 

 on the wing as we advanced, but re-alighted as soon as we 

 had passed. The bushes were rarely taller than ourselves, so 

 that we could easily see the eggs in the nests. . . . The 

 Noddy lays three eggs, which average two inches in length by 

 an inch and three-eighths in breadth, and are of a reddish 

 yellow colour, spotted and patched with dull red and faint 

 purple. They afford excellent eating, and our sailors seldom 

 failed to collect bucketsful of them daily during our stay at 

 the Tortugas." 



Considerable variation is found to exist in the markings of 

 the eggs ; the greater number are of a cream-colour, thinly 

 sprinkled all over, except at the larger end, where they 

 become more numerous and form an irregular zone, with 

 blotches of chestnut-red and dark brown, the latter colour 

 appearing as if beneath the surface of the shell ; but examples 

 occur in which the markings are much more numerous and 

 almost equally distributed over the surface, and others which 

 are nearly pure white ; and I possess one specimen in which 

 the markings are so large and dark that it might be readily 

 mistaken for the egg of some other bird. They are two 

 inches in length by one inch and a half in breadth. 



The flight of this species is apparently laboured, being per- 



