228 Macgillivray, Along the Great Barvier Reef. [ist^'Dec. 



shy one After passing through another l^elt of scrub we come 

 upon an open glade, from which a Stone-Plover {Burhinus 

 grallarius) rises. Her pair of eggs is placed, as usual, on bare 

 ground under shelter of a straggling tree. From a dry swamp 

 two Cranes {Antigone anstralasiana) rise with loud protesting 

 trumpeting. The ground where these great birds have been digging 

 up the rhizomes of the rushes looks as though it had been rooted 

 by pigs. They fly high into the air, and soar about for an hour 

 afterwards on their broad wings, with outstretched neck and 

 legs. Entering another patch of scrub, a second nest of the Sun- 

 Bird is found in a similar situation to the first, this one con- 

 taining one egg. Not far from this the Little Dove {Geopelia 

 cuneata) flies from her tiny twig-built nest on a knot-hole of a 

 Pandanus at about lo feet from the ground. The nest is not 

 more than 2 inches in diameter, and contains two fresh eggs. 

 Many other birds are seen, such as Ptilopiis ewingi, Geopelia hiinier- 

 alis, Centropus phasianus, Pinarolestes ru.fiventris, Diccsum 

 hinindinaceum, and Ptilotis analoga. Several Terns are fishing in 

 the inlet, notably the Black-naped (5. melananchen). Roseate 

 (S. gracilis), and the Lesser Crested (S. media). We witness 

 an encounter between a Lesser Crested Tern and a Frigate- 

 Bird. The Tern, uttering shrill cries of alarm, endeavours, by 

 turning and dodging, to elude the buffetings of its pursuer, but at 

 last opens its bill and disgorges two fish, which, by an easy and 

 seemingly effortless double swoop, are in turn caught and in- 

 stantly swallowed by the Frigate-Bird. We have several times 

 before noticed them pursuing and bullying Terns of different 

 species, usually the larger ones — H. caspia, S. media, and 5. bergii. 

 Frigate-Birds are usually to be seen about all the islands, soaring 

 overhead like great long-winged Hawks until darkness closes in, 

 waiting to rob any Terns flying to roost with a cropful of fish. 



We go ashore early next day to further explore the island. 

 From the fruit trees near the hut we flush several Rose-crowned 

 Fruit-Pigeons {Ptilopus ewingi) and a small Tin nix from the 

 grass. On the beach on the opposite side of the island are a 

 pair of Long-billed Stone-Plovers and a pair of Red-capped 

 Dottrels {Mgialitis ruficapilla), with several flocks of the Little 

 Stint {Limoniles ruficoUis). On the grass land near the shore 

 a flock of Masked Plover {Lobivanellus miles) is feeding. About 

 TOO yards inland from the beach, over an ironstone ridge, we come 

 upon a large fresh-water lagoon, on which there are a few Teal 

 {Anas gibberifrons)s Black Duck {A. supetciliosa), and Grebes. 

 Several Masked Plovers rise vociferating from the margin, alarming 

 an Egret {Herodias timoriensis), a White-fronted Heron {Noto- 

 phoyx novcB-hollandia), and a Jabiru {Xenorhynchus asiaticus). 

 Over the water, and settled upon some small islets, are a few 

 Black-naped Terns. Going round the margin, a little Sun-Bird 

 leaves her nest, hanging under a small tea-tree, and flies into the 

 scrub. This nest contains two eggs. We cross over a sandy 

 tea-tree ridge to another small lagoon, but take shelter from a 



