iSgi.] Scott on I lie Hi yds of Jdiimico . '20 I 



imme(ii:iti.'l v alter our departure. I liave never seen this Tern associatiiii; 

 witli aiiv olliei' species; on some monii ni;s, soon after da_y break, a few 

 were seen passing over to the harbor, but as a rule I larely met with them 

 away iVom the cavs ai)ove mentioned. Tiie egg in my possession, \vhich 

 was slightly incubated, measures 1.60 by i 20 in. It is dull white, closely 

 and uniformly covered with, small brown and [laie lavender markings. 

 Taken iSth June, 1S91, from Southern Cay, near Port Royal. Like the 

 Sooty Tern, this species apparently laj's onlv a single egg." 



S. Sterna fuliginosa (jincl. Sooty Tei^n. Egg Bird.— Recoided by 

 Gosse at Bkiefieids, Jamaica, and at Pedro Cays (Birds of Jamaica, p. 



431)- 



From Mr. Taylor's notes I transcribe the following; "I have not met 

 with this species in the harbor of Kingston or among the cavs outside 

 Port Royal, where probably it is replaced by 5. ainpstlictiis. Duiing 

 severe storms many sea birds are blown inland, and in looking over mv 

 notes for 1SS7 I find the following passage : 'August 20. This moiiiing 

 a statement appeared in one of the newspapers to the effect that thou- 

 sands of 'Boobies' were seen in an apparently exhausted condition, sitting 

 around the large water tanks at Cavaliers. The island was visited during 

 the previous night by a cyclone, and these birds may have been blown 

 over from the Mor;int Cays or some other similar locality.' The birds are 

 reported to have frequented the tanks for several days. I did not see them 

 while they were there, but for many days after small flocks of Terns 

 passed over tow;irds the south ; so far as I could see they were all Sooty- 

 Terns. 



"Whether the Sooty Tern retires to rest at night, and where, are points 

 I cannot decide with any certainty. It is a common belief, however, 

 aniong the egg gatherers, that this species never alights except during 

 incubation. 



"The melancholy wailing cries that I used to hear at the cays long after 

 the Noddies had settled to roost maj' have been those of this species, and 

 on questioning the men they answered me that they were the cries of the 

 'egg-birds.' 



"During all the time I spent at the cays no living example of this bird 

 came under my observation, except when, almost out of sight of land on 

 the passage to Kingston, small flocks were noticed fishing in company 

 with Noddies and Boobies. Yet they must frequently be in the near vicin- 

 ity of the cays, for on more than one occasion I have found remains 

 of freshly killed birds, the work, doubtless, of the Duck Hawks, a paii- of 

 which birds were resident on one of the smaller cays. 



"Eggs vary from dull bluish white, through all shades of cream to a 

 deep rich bufi:', and exhibit an almost endless variety of markings, from 

 small and uniform dark brown spots to bold, rich, sienna-colored blotches, 

 with numerous underlying marks of lavender and neutral tints. Average 

 measurements, 2 by 1.50 in. 



"The yolk is bright orange-red, in marked contrast to that of the egg of 

 the Noddy Tern, which is dull pale yellow, a circumstance that appears 

 to have escaped the notice of most observers." 



