54 Mr. M. J. Nicoll — Ornithological Journal 



have been imported, and I was told that there are some 

 very lar^e wild eats on the island, no doubt descended from 

 the domestic animal. 



We left Easter Island on March 13th for Pitcairn Island. 

 On the way we saw very few birds. When in lat. 27° 

 27' 2" S., long. 125° 59' 45" W., a Xoddy {Anous stolid nst) 

 Hew on board exhausted. Early on March 21st (lat. 26° 

 10' S., long. 128° 6' W.) a White Tern (Gygis Candida) 

 came on board and was brought to me. 



At 6 a.m. on March 22nd we sighted Pitcairn Island. As 

 we neared it I saw two dark Shearwaters and a Tropic-bird 

 (Phaethon rubricauda). The sea was like glass and the 

 place looked very beautiful. This home of the mutineers 

 of the ' Bounty ' is a very small island; it appears to 

 rise straight up from the sea to its highest point, 1000 feet 

 above sea-level. The land is covered with banana- and 

 cocoanut-trees, and from the sea may be seen here and 

 there patches of deep red-coloured earth. We stayed at 

 Pitcairn Island for a day and a half. I went all over 

 it. There are at present about two hundred inhabitants — 

 the descendants of the mutineers. They are a fine strong- 

 looking race of people. Many sorts of fruit are grown in 

 different parts, and the people live on these and on the 

 goats, of which there are plenty. There is only one land- 

 bird there (Tat are vaughani), which is fairly abundant. On 

 the shores I saw Phaethon rubricauda, Anous stolidus, Gygis 

 Candida, and Procelsterna cinerea. A rat (probably Mus 

 rattus) has been introduced, but I did not see a specimen. 

 The common Fowl runs wild over the island, and is shot 

 when required for eating; its flesh is very tough. A crab 

 (Grapsus) is common on the rocks round the island, and a 

 lizard* (a skink) is abundant. I did not see any butterflies. 

 I caught three microlepidoptera, some mosquitoes, and some 

 crickets. The most interesting object to me was the curious 

 Warbler, which has only recently been discovered. 



* [The skiuk, Mr. Boulenger kindly informs us, is Lygosoma cyanurum, 

 a widelv-spread Polynesian species. — Edd.] 



