494 Mr. C. P. Conigrave on the Bird-life of 



Skippers sailing boats to the Abrolhos invariably leave 

 Geraldton during the nndnight hours in order that the 

 dangerous reefs and shoals of the islauds may be negotiated 

 in early daylight. In our case, after a rough and tempes- 

 tuous trip across, we found our craft at daybreak heading a 

 course amongst a perfect maze of reefs and islets. The 

 pretty mottling of the surface where the coral lumps came 

 near to the surface was a sure guide to our skipper to keep 

 in darker water, where the depth was greater. Away to 

 the west stretched the fringing reef, with the never-ending 

 breakers dashing themselves into showers of spray. Trailing 

 like a great white ribbon against the dark sea was Pelsart 

 Island — only at the northern end did any vegetation show, 

 and there just a splash of green, indicating a dense man- 

 grove thicket. The headquarters of the guano industry 

 are at the southern end of the island, where a few corru- 

 gated iron houses stand near the beach, and a long jetty 

 runs out into deep water. Here we landed and were at 

 once made welcome by the Manager of the island. The 

 guano' collecting was in full swing, the manure being dug 

 up and thrown through large screens to rid it of roots, 

 stones, and other debris, preparatory to being run on liglit 

 tramways to the jetty, from where it is taken in luggers to 

 the larger vessels that are compelled to lie out in the offi;ig 

 some distance away. Only during the summer months is 

 the island inhabited, for when the winter gales rage in all 

 their fury, life in such a place would be well nigh unbearable, 

 if not quite impossible. 



Early in August the immense hordes of sea-birds com- 

 mence to congregate from the great southern oceans, and 

 by the end of October all the rookeries are fully occupied, 

 and then it is that one may see perhaps the most wonderful 

 zoological sight in the world. Every bush is occupied by a 

 bird or its nest, and not alone the low scrub is tenanted. 

 The ground also is covered with birds. The commonest 

 species to be found nesting are the Noddy Terns {Anuus 

 stolidus) and the Sooty Terns (Sterna faliginosd), although 

 something like forty species frequent the Abrolhos during 

 the summer months. 



