188 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



numbers amongst the shipping in the harbour, 

 where it was quite tame and allowed of a near 

 approach. The fact that it is plentiful and tame 

 in the harbour may be accredited to protection 

 by law. Outside the harbour we found it very 

 shy and wary, and for some days we tried in vain 

 to shoot one for the collection. Gulls, terns, 

 and petrels were also very numerous in the bay. 



The very handsome Franklin's gull,* in general 

 appearance much resembling our well-known 

 black-headed gull, and having the whole of the 

 underparts of a beautiful rosy pink,t was 

 numerous in the harbour. This pink colour, 

 which is also found on the feathers of the under- 

 parts of many other gulls and terns, does not show 

 in dried skins. I pulled several feathers from the 

 breast of one of the gulls and placed them in an 

 envelope, which was at once put inside a book, 

 but in spite of these precautions I found that after 

 a week the feathers had turned quite white a fact 

 which shows that the disappearance of the pink 

 colour is not due tof adingfrom exposure to the light. 



On the day of our arrival we saw large 

 flocks of grey phalaropes sitting on the smooth 

 waters of the bay. Later on, when cruising about 

 in the launch some miles from the shipping, I 

 met with small parties of these birds, and one 

 specimen was obtained. The bird breeds in the 



* Larus franklini. 



t Very old examples of our Larus ridibundus have the breast 

 suffused with pink after the spring moult. 



