2l8 Macgillivray, Along the Great Bavriev Reef. T J 



Emu 

 Dec. 



Leaving the bay at daylight, with Li/.ard Island looming high 

 on our right — where the Mrs. Watson tragedy was enacted 30 years 

 ago — we stand out till Point Lookout is rounded ; thence north- 

 wards, skirting the Turtle Group of islands, we reach the Howick 

 Group, numbered from One to Ten. Many sea-birds are noted 

 along these islands, notably Noddies {Anous stolidiis). Lesser 

 Crested Terns {Sterna media) Reef-Herons, and Pelicans. The 

 Noddies look quite black when flying, as is their custom, lower to 

 the waves than any of the other Terns, and with a quicker flight. 

 One cannot help pitying the shoals of smaller fish hunted to the 

 surface by large species, there to encounter Terns and other sea- 

 birds, who dive incessantly upon them until the whole shoal goes 

 below again, leaving the Terns to scatter and scout round until 

 the little fishes are hunted to the surface again, when a rallying cry 

 from a Tern brings all the others together once more to the attack. 

 One wonders whether there is any place of refuge for little fish. 

 The Tern secures his prey by diving on to the surface of the sea, 

 taking the fish, and instantly swallowing it, for their swallowing 

 capacit}' is great. Occasionally in diving they go com- 

 pletely beneath the water, but never to any depth. They rise 

 immediately on the wing, shake the water off, and fly on. Only 

 once did I see a Tern swimming, and then because it was unable 

 to fly. A broad coral reef connects all the Howick Group. As 

 we near No. 10, our objective, numbers of Terns are seen hovering 

 over it. These, on closer approach, turn out to be mostly Noddies, 

 Lesser Crested Terns, and Brown-winged Terns [Sterna ancestheta), 

 with a few Silver Gulls (Larus novcB-hollandicB). 



The islet is only about 400 yards long and 150 broad, rising 

 about 10 feet above high water mark, covered in the centre with 

 a low shrubby growth. The Noddies were nesting everywhere — 

 on the ground, on the grass, and upon the shrubby herbage a foot 

 or more from the ground. The nests were, in nearly every in- 

 stance, constructed of sea- weed, with a lining of sea-shells. Some 

 birds seemed to be connoisseurs in conchology, as many very 

 beautiful shells were to be found on their nests, whereas others 

 took no care, lining theirs with only a few broken fragments. The 

 nests contained from fresh eggs to nearly fully-fledged young birds 

 — in each instance only one. The parent birds allowed us to 

 approach quite closely before rising from their nests, but would 

 not ]>ermit of any handling. The eggs showed a certain amount 

 of variation, but it is not so marked in this species as in others. 

 Several Gulls were on the islet, having bred earlier, large 

 young ones being seen either hiding in the grass or being hurried 

 off to the water's edge by the old birds It was rather amusing, 

 and very human, to see three old birds trying to get a half-fledged 

 young one to the water, much against his will, as he continually 

 tried to get back. They pushed him with their breasts, pulled 

 him by his wings, and buffeted him with their own all the way 

 down the beach, and at last, getting him by the back of the neck 

 and wings, forcibly dropped him right into the water, when he 



