312 NATURAL HISTORY OF HAWAII. 



even more alike if i)o.ssil)le than the birds, and a description of one will suffice 

 for both. They are usually a little smaller than a bantam chicken egg, and 

 clear grayish-white, vai'iously splotched and mottled with clove-brown, varied 

 often with lilac markings. 



The sooty tei-n i" is a beautiful, graceful species common in the waters 

 about the islands. It nuiy be identified by its typical tern-like flight and the 

 fact that the upper parts are sooty-black while the under parts, forehead and 

 a narrow stripe over the eye, are wdiite. 



Two or three species of small, tube-nosed swimmers that skim singly, or 

 in pairs, over the water, that all pass in the distance as "mutton birds," are 

 as liable to be one as the other of the wedge-tailed shearwater,ii the Christ- 

 mas Island shearwater.!- the Bonin petrel,!-"* or the Hawaiian petrel.^"* 



AVhere careful identification is possible they may prove to be something 

 very ditferent, however, and it is unsafe to hazard more than a guess as to 

 the name of a species seen on the wing at sea. Fortunately, there is no ground 

 for uncertainty in the identification of the large, tube-nose swimmers. 



Albatross. 



The black-footed albatross i-'^ is sooty-brown all over, while the Laysan Island 

 albatross ^'^ has the abdomen white. Both species are about the size of a large 

 goose and are called gooneys by the sailors. They l)oth follow vessels cross- 

 ing the Pacific, for hundreds of miles on their journeys to and from the islands. 

 Not infrequently a fiock of three or four birds will follow a steamer for days, 

 eagerly seizing the bits of waste that may be thrown overboard from tlie 

 cooks' gal lev. 



to' 



Man-0 '-War Bird. 



The majestic black man-o'-war i" bird, often little more than a mere speck in 

 the clear blue sky, is easily recognized as it sails high overhead, circling round 

 and round for houi's at a time without the slightest apparent effort; they are 

 objects of never-failing interest, serving often as a welcome diversion to 

 relieve the monotonous round of daily life on l)o;ird an ocean liner in the 

 tropics. 



Interesting as the Hawaiian species of sea-birds may be when on th(^ wing, 

 their home life is a great deal more so, and fortunate indeed is the person who 

 is able to spend a few days in one of the large colonies to be found on all of 

 the smaller uninhabited islands that lie to the northwest of Kauai. 



Birds of Laysan Island. 



Laysan is perhaps the largest sea-bird colony in the tropics, and its teem- 

 ing hordes of ])ii"d inhabitants may justly claim for it a place as one of the 

 great natural wonders of the world. The island itself is scarcelv two and a 



1" .S'ffj-jio fiiHf/inosn. ^'^ Priofintis cu7\eatus. ^^ Puffinns notiritati.i. '^'^ .V.strclata hy/iolfiica. 



^* JEstrelata s(nidwi<-Iifi)ii.sis. ^^ Diomedea nigripes. ^'^ Diomedea hnmutahilis. ^' Freyata nquila. 



