Vol. X. 

 igio 



] Macgillivray, Along the Great Bayyiey Reef. 223 



We make a start this morning towards the outer part of the 

 Great Barrier Reef and the Raine Island opening, deeming it 

 better to go out from here than from Cape Grenville, because of 

 a more favourable wind. We ship a lot of water before getting 

 the shelter of a reef after passing the Haggerstone, a high island 

 rising 500 feet above water level, where a hkhe-de-mer fisherman 

 has his smoke-house. We have more rough sea before gaining 

 the shelter of the Sir Charles Hardy Group, anchoring under the 

 lee of the westernmost one. There are three large islands in the 

 group, and on the one we anchor off is a fine grove of cocoa- 

 nut palms and a patch of sweet potatoes. The beach on the 

 weather side is a mass of coral and pumice where it is not pre- 

 cipitous rock or coral reef. The two larger islands rise to a height 

 of 200 feet above water level, are very rocky, and covered with 

 coarse grass, a few pandanus trees, and small patches of scrub. 

 Reef-Herons are all round the island, but not nesting, and Golden 

 Plovers on every open space ; no Terns are nesting. A pair 

 of Long-billed Stone-Plovers have a nest on the coral beach, 

 slightly under the shelter of a straggling bush, the solitary egg 

 being in a slight depression in the coral sand. The egg is chipping, 

 and hatches out during the day. The young bird is very feeble, 

 and is attacked by ants. I free it of these pests, and shift 

 it twice before they let it alone. The old birds are very timid, 

 and will never allow anyone to approach near to them. We ex- 

 plore the island fairly thoroughly, as we have to remain an extra 

 day to allow the sea to moderate. The following land-birds are 

 noted : — Eurystomiis paciftcus. Halcyon macleayi, Graucalus 

 melanops, Myiagra nibeada, Rhipidura dryas. Having ballasted, 

 watered our boat, and tightened the rigging, we make out again 

 till we sight the Ashmore Sand-banks — three in all — about 2 miles 

 from each other, lying about half-way between the Sir Charles 

 Hardy Islands and the Raine Island opening in the Great Barrier. 

 We sight many Brown Gannets, and when we near the most 

 easterly of the banks (No. 3) we notice a number of these birds, 

 and decide to land, and also to anchor for the night, the wind 

 and tide making it impossible for us to reach the shelter of the 

 Banier. We have a large escort of Gannets by the time we 

 anchor. On landing most of the top of the bank is seen to be 

 occupied by Brown Gannets. Most of these rise as we 

 approach, leaving about 30 sitting birds. These permit of a close 

 approach before leaving their nests — as well, too, for no sooner 

 does a bird quit its nest than a Gull seizes an egg and makes 

 off with it. As usual, they are constantly on the watch to steal 

 other birds' eggs in all the rookeries visited by us. There are 

 about 50 nests, 30 of which contain two eggs each and the rest 

 one, mostly incomplete clutches or reauced by the Gulls. 

 Numbers of the nests are just being scraped out. The nests 

 are merely a depression scraped in the sand, some hollows having 

 bits of straw, stick, coral, or shell gathered round them ; dimen- 

 sions, I foot in diameter and 4 inches in depth. This rookery has 



