260 The Bird-life of Adele Island, N. TV. Australia. 



hooked beaks, and uttered a croak like that of the white 

 Gannet, but very much raore feeble ; while, to obtain the 

 egg, it was necessary to push the bird right off the nest, 

 when it took wing without any apparent difficulty. The 

 birds on the adjoining nests, little more than arm's length 

 distant, meanwhile took absolutely no notice of the intruder. 

 The young birds, when of any size, were much more vicious 

 than their parents, and energetically resisted any attempt to 

 take them up, croaking and snapping sharply with their 

 bills. They were much infested with a large species of 

 Ixodes, and a flat brown parasitic fly, closely resembling in 

 general appearance the well-known Hippobosca equina of 

 Europe, was plentiful about the nests, and was to be seen 

 running over the feathers of the birds. A large number of 

 the eggs were collected and, when boiled hard, turned out 

 by no means bad eating ; the " white," as is the case with 

 the eggs of most sea-birds, being quite transparent and 

 jelly-like, and the flavour not in the least degree rank or 

 disagreeable. 



While wandering about the island, I flushed, out of the 

 long grass near the shore, two specimens of a Bittern, in all 

 probability Botaurus jmicilopterics (Wagl.). A Quail (most 

 likely Coturnix pectoralis, Gould), which abounds on all 

 the grassy islands hereabout, was also seen, but not by 

 myself ; and one or two small Warbler-like birds seen among 

 the high grass, which I could not identify, completed the list 

 of the birds observed on this occasion. 



There were many recent tracks of Turtle on the sandy 

 beach, and in the evening, when the tide began again to re- 

 cede, the animals themselves were quite numerous on the reef, 

 but were very wary. Two fine specimens were shot, one of 

 which was a male weighing quite 200 lbs. Turtles of this sex 

 are far less numerous, or at any rate less frequently seen, than 

 the other on this coast, and the flesh is so rank as to be 

 scarcely eatable, except after a long course of salt provisions. 



The tide had risen sufficiently by 3 p.m. to enable the 

 boats to come right up to the beach, thus saving the long 

 and trying walk over the reef. As I was by this time nearly 



