BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 23 



The wind increased to a strong breeze, and, soon after starting, 

 the land we had left became an indistinct line in the distance, which 

 gradually faded from our view, until we rolled upon an unbroken 

 sea of white-capped waves, which occasionally sent their spray high 

 over the deck. About noon we sighted Green Key, and passed 

 within a stone's throw of the shore. A flock of Royal Terns, which 

 were sunning themselves upon the beach, rose with harsh cries, and 

 circled and played around us until Green Key, in turn, had sunk in 

 the horizon, and the low shores of Andros Island appeared in the 

 distance, heralded by the rumbling thunder of the waves breaking 

 upon the coral reefs. A few minutes later, our little vessel rounded 

 to, and entered a small, rock-bound harbor, startling a number of 

 Cormorants, which flapped hurriedly away as we dropped our anchor 

 in the still water. 



