124 TEE CRVISE OF THE " CACHALOT:' 



to fish for themselves, preferring to hover high in the 

 blue, their tails opening and closing like a pair of 

 scissors as they hang poised above the sea. Presently 

 booby — like some honest housewife who has been a- 

 marketing — comes flapping noisily home, her maw 

 laden with fish for the chicks. Down comes the black 

 watcher from above with a swoop like an eagle. Booby 

 puts all she knows into her flight, but vainly ; escape 

 is impossible, so with a despairing shriek she drops her 

 load. Before it has touched the water the graceful thief 

 has intercepted it, and soared slowly aloft again, to 

 repeat the performance as occasion serves. 



When we arrived on the outer shore of the island, we 

 found a large breeding-place of these birds, but totally 

 different to the haunt of the boobies. The nests, if they 

 might be so-called, being at best a few twigs, were 

 mostly in the hollows of the rocks, the number of eggs 

 being two to a nest, on an average. The eggs were 

 nearly as large as a turkey's. But I am reminded of the 

 range of size among turkeys' eggs, so I must say they 

 were considerably larger than a small turkey's egg. 

 Their flavour was most delicate, as much so as the eggs 

 of a moor-fed fowl. We saw no birds sitting, but here 

 and there the gaunt skeleton forms of birds, who by 

 reason of sickness or old age were unable to provide 

 for themselves, and so sat waiting for death, appealed 

 most mournfully to us. We went up to some of these 

 poor creatures, and ended their long agony ; but there 

 were many of them that we were obliged to leave to 

 Nature. 



We saw no animals larger than a rat, but there 

 were a great many of those eerie-looking land-crabs, 

 that seemed as if almost humanly intelligent as they 



