Contributions to the Ornithology of India, Sfc. 14-7 



stopped half a dozen times, and given chase in a row boat which 

 we purposely kept towing- along side, but all in vain, the little 

 wretches are so wild, we can make nothing of them. Of shear 

 waters we saw at least a dozen, and also two tropic birds, but 

 couldn^t get anyhow within shot. A few gulls, argentatus and 

 borealis, occasionally hovered about us or followed our course. 



^%tk. — Arrived at Gwader where we saw nothing new. Grebes 

 dotted all over the baj^, little parties of the Dalmatian pelican, 

 (now nearly all in full breeding* plumage, their pouches the 

 colour of African marygolds) sailing about majestically, and 

 many hundred gulls, floating here and there, some singly some 

 in large parties, gmongst which liemprich^s sombre bird, and the 

 great black-headed one, most readily caught the eye. We left 

 about 8 p. M., and during the rest of the day we have seen no 

 single bird calling for notice except, in the far distance, what I 

 was assured were, and may very likely have been, boobies. 



^ItJi. — Running down the coast towards Kurrachee. Off the 

 Omara headland, and about six miles off shore, we saw numbers 

 of tropic birds. A gun being fired at a shearwater that crossed 

 our bows, some eighty yards ahead, the " Bo' suns' " (boatswains, 

 the naval equivalent for Phaeton) which hitherto had never come 

 within two hundred yards, or taken the smallest notice of us, 

 gathered round the vessel, and though keeping about sixty yards 

 distant, kept flying round and round and over us, in the most 

 inquisitive manner. One was soon dropped, and a boat lowered 

 to pick it up j they took no notice of the fall of their comrade, but 

 sheered off somewhat when they saw him lifted out of the water ; 

 another gun being fired, they again came closer than before and 

 two more were shot, and then they drew off, going on with their 

 fishing from two hundred yards to a quarter of a mile off us. A 

 couple of blank shots being fired, two or three again came up to 

 us, obviously merely to see what the row meant, and of these we 

 got another. After this they disappeared, we were steaming, 

 and I believe simply left them too far behind to hear our salutes 

 in their honour. About three miles further, we passed another 

 smaller party, some two or three hundred yards off, and on our 

 firiug, they at once hurried up to the ship and allowed us to get 

 two more. In all I have secured six, all of them, as I beheve, 

 immature cBtherius. Their flight is very like that of terns, 

 though stronger and more steady ; they work backwards and for- 

 wards fishing with their long sharp bills pointed straight down- 

 wards, just like so many Caspian terns, and they drop down into 

 the water just like these, or like C. rudis, the glossy black and 

 satin white plumage of which is much like theirs. None of them 

 had tails more than 9-5 inches in length, whereas in adults that I 



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