THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



259 



ance, which develop into a speckled 

 plumage strangely different to the 

 black and snowy white of their ])arents, 

 as is the fashion among sea l)irds. 



The few scattered bushes growing 

 upon the rocky islets are tenanted by 

 graceful grey-ea])ped Noddies (A)ioiis 

 stolidns), Avhieh construct crude nests 

 of grass among their branches. Mutton 

 birds {PuffiHUs paciflcus) scoo]) out 

 shallow burrows where they can hnd 

 sufficient soil, or secrete themselves 

 among grass tussocks and in holes 

 among rocks. The ]iarents share the 

 duties of incubating the eggs and of 

 keeping their ever hungry babies sup- 

 plied with food, and upon the sea 

 around the islets one sees long black 

 ribbons which are composed of thous- 

 ands of the adults fishing together 

 around a shoal of fish or some other 

 massed marine life. Shelves u]K)n the 

 cliffs serve the graceful little Blue- 

 billies {Procelsterna caeruico) as nesting 

 places, the more inaccessible their 



|)()sition the greater theii' fa\()ui- with 

 the l)irds. 



The group iihistraled in the fi'ontis- 

 ])iece of this issue is a recent addition 

 to the Museum galleries, and re])resents 

 a corner of a nesting colony of seabiixls 

 on the Admiralty Islets. Represen- 

 tatives of the five species are assembled 

 just as they occurred under natural 

 conditions, chicks and Hedglings being 

 mounted in life-like attitudes with their 

 l)arents. A vivaciously ])ainted back- 

 cloth ])icturises the turbulent seas 

 encom])assing the rocks, with Lord 

 Howe Island in the background, and 

 the whole is carefully copied from 

 ])hotographs of an actual scene, and 

 will doubtless interest and instruct 

 visitors to the Museum. The con- 

 struction of the exhibit is the work of 

 Messrs. H. Grant, J. H. Wright, and W. 

 Barnes, of the Museum staff, while 

 the back-cloth w as painted by ^Ir. H. R. 

 (;allo]). 



A Coral Pool. 



The Great Barrier Reef of Australia, 

 extending for twelve hundred miles 

 along the coast of Queensland, is the 

 greatest coral formation in the world. 

 It forms the western boundary of the 

 Coral Sea, which is beset with many 

 atolls and coral-banks, most numerous 

 towards the equator, and becoming 

 more scattered as they approach 

 cooler waters. The southernmost reef 

 fringes the shores of Lord Howe Island, 

 which lies eastward of Port Mac- 

 quarie, New South Wales, and only 

 about one hundi-ed and seventy miles 

 northward of Sydney. 



A number of widely different animals 

 are commonly recognised as corals, 

 among which the precious Red Coral, 

 Corallium, and the white bleached 

 skeletons of the Stony Corals of the 

 order Madreporaria, are best known. 

 The latter are the reef builders, and 

 secrete hard stony skeletons, although 

 their bodies are only of the consistency 

 of thin jelly. The coral polyps or 



■■ insects," as they are usually but very 

 erroneously called, can thrive only in 

 the open sea where the water is crystal 

 clear and far removed from the influence 

 of mud. When expanded they re- 

 semble tiny flowers, with petals radia- 

 ting aroimd a central opening, and 

 their colours often vie with those of a 

 luxuriant garden. But the similarity 

 ends there, for they are not plants but 

 true animals. They are able to extract 

 lime from sea-water and thus they 

 secrete around themselves a hard 

 stony skeleton, which protects their 

 soft bodies from the battering effects 

 of the waves. 



There are a great number of different 

 kinds of Stony Corals, each of which 

 has its own type of skeleton, some being 

 so massive and solid that they can 

 scarcely be chipped with a hammer, 

 M-hile others are so brittle that their 

 l)i-anches snaji at the slightest touch. 

 Some grow best where the siu'f breaks 

 heavily upon them, tlom-ishing under 



