and its Bird- Islands. 85 



A few Duikers of three species (Phalacrocorax capensis, 

 P. neglectus, and P. africanus) nest on this island. I took 

 some eggs of the little long-tailed or crowned species 

 (P. africanus). Tiieir nests, like those of the Trek-Duiker, 

 are woven from the stalks of weeds growing on the island, not 

 from seaweed ; they are placed, as a rule, in crevices or on the 

 tops of flat rocks, but not on the ground. The eggs, from 

 two to four in number, are like those of the Trek-Duiker, 

 but are somewhat smaller, measuring about 47x32 mm. 

 (*. e. 1* x \\ inches). When sitting on their nests the little 

 Duikers can be at once distinguished by the crest of short 

 feathers on the top of the head, whence they are generally 

 known among the island men as " Crown-Duikers " ; the 

 iris, too, is bright red in colour and forms a very prominent 

 feature, as it can be seen at some distance. 



The following day we started off again early in the morning 

 to visit the southern end of the bay. Just south of the 

 entrance there are two small islands known as Scliaap 

 (i. e. Sheep) and Meu or Meuven. These, like the other 

 islands, are reserved by the Colonial Government, although 

 no guano is collected there ; they are, however (especially 

 Meu), the resort of countless numbers of Gulls of two species, 

 both for roosting and nesting. As the Gulls are very 

 destructive to the eggs and young birds of the guano-pro- 

 ducing "Duikers" and " Malagas," their eggs and young 

 are destroyed during the breeding-season, especially on these 

 islands. 



On landing on Schaap Island I found that in addition to 

 the Gulls there were a few Crown-Duikers (Phalacrocorax 

 africanus) there, but no Trek- or Bank-Duikers. Most of the 

 Crown-Duikers had nests among the pointed rocks on the 

 outskirts of both the islands, but I found that a few had also 

 occupied some old and apparently dead thorn-bushes (Acacia) 

 which grew more towards the centre of Meu Island. I was 

 much disappointed that I was too early for the Gulls, as I 

 was unable to find a single pair breeding. I was informed 

 that they built their nests on the ground among the rank 

 growth of a species of tansy, which covered the greater part 



