2o8 Mr. J. Walker on the Bird-life of 



approached, was strikingly different — the S. fiber only giving 

 vent to a feeble croak or two, and then scuttling awkwardly 

 off the nest and away out to sea, returning, however, in a 

 few minutes ; the S. cyanojis, on the other hand, made a 

 fierce resistance, biting savagely at a stick presented to it, 

 and uttering a succession of loud harsh croaks, or rather 

 barks, while the bird had to be fairly shoved off the nest before 

 it would quit its eggs or young. All the time hundreds of 

 the Gannets, chiefly of the brown species, were on the wing, 

 sailing overhead with the quietness of Owls, and often 

 coming within two or three yards of me as I strolled along 

 the beach. 



A little way inland, on a spot comparatively open and bare 

 of vegetation, was a breeding-station of Horsfield's Tern, 

 Sterna media, Horsf. It was much too late to obtain the eggs 

 of this bird, as the young ones, in a prettily spotted stage of 

 plumage, were nearly as large as the adults, though as yet 

 unable to fly, and they waddled along before me like so 

 many ducklings. Only a few empty and broken egg-shells 

 were to be found. There was a small patch of indifferent 

 guano where these Terns were breeding, but I did not come 

 across the main deposit of this substance, said to be from 6 

 to 24 inches in thickness, near the south-east end of the 

 island. 



Among some Sida bushes, not far from the centre of the 

 island, was a breeding colony of Black-and-white Cormorants, 

 Phalacrocorax varius (Gm.). The nests were rudely con- 

 structed of small twigs, and were built on the boughs of the 

 Sida, about three feet from the ground. Each contained, in 

 a very slightly defined hollow, three long-oval eggs (£2^3 by 

 1^ inch), of a full bluish-green colour, with a very thick 

 and rough chalky coating. Numerous dead fishes, some of 

 quite large size, were strewn about here, and the aroma of 

 the whole place was decidedly more pungent than agreeable. 

 The birds themselves were somewhat shy, and did not admit 

 of a very near approach before taking wing. 



Last, and most interesting of all, came the breeding-place 

 of the Frigate-birds, Tachypetes minor (Gm.). These fine 



