THE ANI.MAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 317 



Nesting Habits of the Man-o'-Wak Birds. 



Of tlie large sea-birds on Laysaii. Ilic iirsliiiL;- liahits of the great maii-o"- 

 war bii'ds are second in interest only to those of tlic alhalross. 'riioiii^h its 

 habits have gained for it the most undesirable of rcpiilatioiis among its fel- 

 lows, the species is worthy of more than ])assing notice. 'Plicir nests ai-c I'lide 

 structures of sticks and vines, in bulk the size of a bushel b;iskei, that are 

 placed on top of the low bushes. On a desert sand island il is not an eas\- 

 task to secure the necessary material for the hundreds of nests re(|uired by 

 the birds in a colony of the size of that on La\>;an. As a result the l)irds have 

 become notorious thieves, stealing from each other without the slightest regaicl 

 for the ordinary rules governing the possession of house-building materials 

 among birds. When both the owners of a nest chance to leave it at the same 

 time, if only for a few minutes, their neighbors will greedily cari-y it away, 

 often not leaving a single vestige of the nest to nmrk the former home of the 

 absent owners. 



Both sexes sit on the single large white egg, turn about, seldom lea\in<.: it 

 for an instant day or night for fear it will lie broken and the nest stolen b\' 

 their neighbors. They are forced to keep even a closer watch ovei- the naked 

 young than over the egg in the nest, to prevent their defenseless chicks fi-oni being 

 carried off and devoured. 



In securing their daily rations they have acquired a skill that makes the 

 acts of an ordinary highwayman seem commonplace. Their habit is to estab- 

 lish their colony in the neighborhood of a booby colony. Here they |)ati'ol 

 the island up and down, out over the open sea, a few hundred yards fi'oni 

 shore, lying in wait for the return of the industrious boobies and tropic birds 

 that have been out sea-fishing. As the birds near the shore heavily laden \\illi 

 fish, the man-o"-war l)ird gives chase, often a Hock of these winged pii-ates 

 focusing their attack on a single booby. They fly over it. in front of it, 

 and pick it and otherwise buffet and molest it, until, in self-defense, the cow- 

 fused bird lets go its catch of fish one by one. The fish are eagerly caught up 

 in mid-air by the -assailants and the attack renewed, until, more times than 

 not, the booby, after a hard day's work secui'ing food foi- hei' family, nnives 



Descriptiox of Plate. 



1. Albatross eggs. The manager of the guano company at one lime packed down a few- 

 barrels of eggs for use by the laborers, but eggs were never exported from the island. The 

 picture here shown and often published was especially arranged for si)ectacular pliotograpliic 

 effect. 2. Black-footed Albatross in the wake of a steamer. Both tlie black and the wliite 

 speciefi follow shij)s at sea and are called gooneys by the sailors. '^, 4. Two views of an 

 enraged Red-footed Booby. 5. Bristle-thighed Curlews roosting on a pile of guano rock. 

 6. Colony of Hawaiian Terns — all facing to windward, a iiabit of sea-birds. 7. Red-tailed 

 Tropic Bird on the nest. 8. Family group of Blue-f.'u-ed Booliies. 9. Sooty Tern with egg. 

 10. Laysan Albatross — the end of the dance. 11. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters at home. li'. 

 Young I^aysan Alltatross; partly fledged. 18. .Miller Bird and nest. 14. Hawaiian Tern on a 

 bush of Clienopodium Sandwic]ieum. 15. Laysan canary nest and eggs. 16. Crouji of Man-o'- 

 war Birds on the nest. 17. General view on Laysan looking to the east across the salt water 

 lagoon. 



