IQO Barrett, Expedition to Capricorn Group. [^^ 



Emu 

 Dec. 



faring. It was wonderful to see them going out to forage at dawn 

 and returning about sundown to the Pisonia forest — thousands 

 of graceful birds, flying swiftly, like a legion of big butterflies, over 

 the sea or among the trees. At noon one might see Noddies 

 clustered like strange fruits on the Pisonia boughs, enjoying a 

 dreamy rest in the sun. Disturbed, they would rise, wheel above 

 the trees for a while, crying and calling, then settle down as before. 

 Mast-Head and the other islets of the Capricorn Group are given 

 over to birds in nesting time. The Noddies commenced to 

 lay a few days after our arrival, and, before we departed, thousands 

 of eggs had been deposited in the crude, untidy nests scattered 

 through the forest. Almost every tree and bush bore a burden 

 of Noddies' nests ; and when one climbed into a Pisonia with care 

 (for the boughs are sappy and easily broken), he could look down 

 upon a cluster of nests, each containing an e^^. The nesting birds 

 displayed little apprehension of man. So tame were they, in 

 fact, that often it was necessary to push a bird aside if you would 

 see her egg. With their long black beaks the females pecked 

 viciously at intruding hands, but could inflict no punishment with 

 such delicate weapons. 



Day after day we went among the Noddies, and never tired of 

 watching their ways and admiring their grace and beauty. 

 One member, reflecting, spoke of the tragedy a visit from plume- 

 hunters would bring to the island, for the birds could be slain 

 with such ease. 



The interests of most members of the party were centred, of 

 course, in the avifauna ; but time was found for other things. The 

 coral reef was a treasure-field in which we often gleaned. The 

 delicate beauty of the live corals, and of shells and fishes and 

 crustaceans they harboured, proved a constant source of delight. 

 We became, to coin a word, " reef -combers," wading in the clear 

 pools at ebb tide, or parading the causeways of dead coral, turning 

 over jagged clumps, and gathering quaint objects disclosed. Our 

 leader organized fishing parties. Armed with spears — sheoak 

 saplings, with fire-hardened points — the fishers patrolled the 

 shallows, and had exciting sport. The prey, accustomed to flee 

 before the grey-finned sharks that haunt the lagoon at high tide, 

 was not easily captured ; but the spearsmen. after an hour's sport, 

 would bring in sufficient for a meal. Brilliantly coloured fishes 

 they were, banded and spotted with purple and crimson and gold. 

 Often a grey eel, beautifully mottled with black, would be speared 

 amongst the coral and kept for the specimen jar ; and once or 

 twice we saw millions of a tiny green fish swimming in company 

 close to the shore. The millions formed a ribbon, perhaps 4 feet 

 across and one, two, or three hundred yards in length, that, 

 waving gently, moved through the water slowly, but with great 

 persistence. Each unit of the vast mass seemed imbued with 

 the spirits of unity and progi^ession. A fragment of driftwood 

 or coral thrown at the ribbon caused it to fray out for a moment, 

 then the atoms came together again, and the living band moved 

 on. 



