I04 Director's Annual Report. 



young birds. The nest from which the young bird was secured 

 may be taken as fairly representative of all seen. It was placed at 

 least fifteen feet from the ground in the vertical fork of one of the 

 large trees growing well in towards the centre of the island. It was 

 about eight inches across and five inches deep wath a depression in 

 the top to retain the eggs. Short sticks and straws were used to 

 some extent in its construcflion, but the bulk of the material was 

 made up of sea moss, which together with a few^ dead leaves were 

 piled on top of the sticks. The whole was so plastered with the ex- 

 crement of the birds as to make it a solid whitish looking mass that 

 gave off anything but a pleasant odor. Probably not one in a hun- 

 dred of the terns nesting in the trees were of this species, while its 

 ratio to the sooty tern was not more than one to a thousand. 



Gygis alba kittliUi Hartert. White Tern. 



This beautiful little tern was quite common on the island, 

 where, fluttering softly about in the shade of the forest, they left 

 with me a never-to-be-forgotten impression. So pure and white; 

 such innocent, large, dark eyes; such trusting, fearless, gentle 

 manners. Little w^onder they are all but worshipped by the rough 

 sailors, who have named them "love birds" or "sea fairies. ' ' A pair 

 will always keep close together, and a sailor will tell you that if 

 one is killed the mate wdll soon die of sorrow and loneliness. As a 

 result, partly owing to tender hearts, partly owing to the old cling- 

 ing superstitions of the sea, few white terns meet death at the hands 

 of these hardy men. But fashion has a more merciless way, for 

 the birds are much sought after by the feather dealers. Fortunately 

 for the birds themselves it is almost impossible to kill one without 

 in some way staining its plumage ; then, too, their dark blue skin 

 will show through the thin layer of feathers and render them un- 

 sightly and unsalable unless extra precautions are taken in remov- 

 ing and making up the skin. The added labor required to do this 

 more than makes up for the advance in the price paid ; hence, com- 

 paratively few of these birds are killed. Could not this be con- 

 sidered as a new phase of the old story of protecflive coloration ? 



Preferring the deeper shade for their nesting site, w^here they 

 are to be found day or night, they will deposit a single ^^%, usually 

 in the crotch of a tree, or in a crevice of the rough bark of some 

 slanting limb; here, without a sign of a nest or prote(5lion of any 



