2oS 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Reef at Lord Howe Island encloses 

 a broad shallow lagoon. 



[Plioto.— ,1. /,'. MrCiiUorh. 



otliers, because, as no actual nest is 

 built, any surface flat enough to rest 

 the egg upon seems to be all that is 

 required. As the month goes by the 

 terns become more and more numerous, 

 and, when the chickens make their 

 appearance, the ground is covered with 

 a living mass. Walking among them, 

 one must tread warily to avoid crushing 

 a young bird or an egg under foot, A\'hile 

 clouds of their distracted ])arents fly 

 close above ones head, screaming and 

 chattering, and occasionally SMOoping 

 down to peck at the intruder. 



The egg of the Wideawake is ex- 

 cellent eating, and, though the yolk is 

 richly coloured, it lacks that fishy 

 flavour which is common to most sea- 

 bird's eggs. Great ({uantities of them 

 are collected for the table by the resi- 

 dents of the island during the early 

 part of each season, but, as each bird 

 robbed of its egg soon lays another, the 

 numbers are not diminished. The eggs 

 are beautifully mottled and blotched 

 with brown, and no t^^'() appear exactly 

 alike. Maybe each l)ird recognises 

 its OAvn by the marking u})on it, though 

 experiments have shoAvn that its ])osi- 

 tion is largely the parent's guiding 

 feature. What ha})]iens when a crowd 

 of similarly marked chicks are dis- 

 turbed l\y some intruder can only be 

 left to the imagination, for they scramble 

 off in every direction and become 

 hopelessly confused as they jostle and 

 tumble over one another in their frantic 

 efforts to hide. 



'{'he chickens develop rapidly, chan- 

 ging from little balls of fluffy down to 

 fledglings with a sooty black plumage 

 speckled with white. When they are 

 ready to fly their parents encourage 

 them seaward and introduce them to 

 the stern realities of their future lives. 

 They are taught the art of fishing and 

 of battling with adveise winds and 

 ^\■aves. But they return to their 

 rocky homes at nightfall, and one hears 

 them high overhead as they struggle 

 M'ith youthful effort against the fresh 

 breeze, their shrill cries being ever 

 answered by the rolling notes of their 

 guardians calling " Wideawake W^ide- 

 awake "" as they guide them in from the 

 sea. 



Gannets (Sula cyanop/^) are also 

 plentiful on the Admiralties, their bulky 

 white forms being everywhere conspic- 

 uous from afar. Their large white 

 eggs are de])osited upon bare rock, and, 

 though always tlirty, are Avhite upon 

 their outer surfaces ; if scratched, 

 however, the inner layers of the shell 

 are shown to be pale green in colour. 

 At sea gannets are particularly powerful 

 birds, flying with ease and speed, and 

 often diving headlong from consider- 

 able heights u])on some luckless prey ; 

 but on land they are ungainly in the ex- 

 treme, and if disturbed are apt to tram]ile 

 cruelly u])on their offs])ring in their con- 

 fusion. They are armed with powerful 

 beaks and occasionally show fight when 

 approached, ^\'hile squa\\king harshly 

 at the intruder. But, as though Avell 

 aware of their awkwardness, they more 

 often vomit up half-digested fish which 

 they leave as s])oils to the victor, and, 

 deserting their hapless chickens to fate 

 in a most co\\aidly manner, make their 

 escape at the first op])ortunity. Their 

 Avings are so long, ho\\ever, as to beat 

 upon the ground if the birds attempt to 

 arise from a flat surface, so they must 

 reach a ledge or slope before they can 

 take off into the air. 



When first hatched, gannet chicks 

 are s]irawling, naked, and remarkably 

 ugly objects, Init by dint of much 

 feeding they grow apace, and soon 

 rival their bulky parents in size, even 

 Mobile covered Avith fluffy white down. 

 Grey feathers then make their appear- 



