106 Mr. J. C, Melliss on the Birds of St. Helena. 



they do for the sake of the plumes they afford for ladies^ hats. 

 Tropic-bh'd-shooting at St. Helena is accomplished by taking up 

 a position on the ledges above their holes and nests^ while a boy 

 is sent down in the valley or ravine below to pick up the birds 

 as they fall. Cats run in a wild state, and are great enemies to 

 this bird, as well as to the game-birds in the Island, by preying 

 on the young. 



Sterna fuliginosa (Gmel.) . " Egg-bird." 



Not very abundant, but inhabits the rocky islets off the coast, 

 George's and Spury Islands, in considerable numbers. It does not 

 remain all the year round at St. Helena, and probably migrates to 

 Ascension, nearly seven himdred miles distant, where these birds 

 are to be found in tens of thousands, and are so plentiful at a spot 

 called "Wide-awake Fair'' that they may be knocked down by 

 hundreds with a walking-stick. It is there protected for the sake 

 of its eggs, which form an article of food with the inhabitants. 

 It arrives in St. Helena at the end of the year, and lays its eggs 

 in Januaiy, February, and March. JMuch risk of life is run in 

 obtaining the eggs, which are brought to the market, and by 

 some persons are considered a delicacy equal to Plovers'. This 

 bird seldom, if ever, comes near the inhabited parts of the Island. 



32. Gygis CANDIDA (Wagl.). "White bird." 

 One of the most abundant sea-birds in the Island, in numbers 

 perhaps next to the Noddy. It associates intimately with the 

 Tropic-bird, but comes more inland, building its nest in rocky 

 cliffs and dikes of columnar basalt, such as Lot, Lot's wife, 

 and others situated several miles from the sea-coast ; occa- 

 sionally it is seen flying high over the central part of the Island. 

 Its curiosity is vei*y remarkable -, for it is easily attracted by a 

 white object, and will come within a foot or two, often in a dis- 

 agreeable manner, peering into the face of a person wearing a 

 white hat or some white article of clothing. 



Anous STOLiDUS (Linn.). "Noddy-Tern." 



A less shy and retiring species than the other sea-birds 

 generally are at St. Helena, frequenting the roadstead, where, 

 in the neighbourhood of ships riding at anchor, it may be seen 

 sitting on the surface of the water or on boats. It inhabits 



