430 THE LACCADIVES AND THE WEST COAST. 
with which we were encompassed, the parents of every one of 
the “lost children” had found them out, and were busy feeding 
and caressing them. 
I have no doubt these parents gave them the true prodigals 
welcome home, and will rejoice more over these lost chicks, 
than over all former offspring, but if those young Sootys are 
ever rash enough to recount their very strange experiences on 
board-ship, what they saw, and what they under went, I fear 
the rest of the community will set them down as hardened de- 
viators from the paths of veracity and cheerfully predicate for 
them an unpleasant fate. 
As for the Noddies, these unfortunately were only beginning 
to lay ; we found eight of their eggs, all quite fresh and never 
more than one in the same place, whereas of the Sooty Tern 
we found 2 and 3 together. 
There was no nest or attempt at a nest in any ease. 
The eggs were just laid about promiscuously in any slight 
depression, either on the bare eoral blocks or on the coarse 
coral sand between them. There was no separation between 
the two species, and each egg or pair of eggs had to be 
watched until the parent settled down to it in order to 
make sure to which they pertained, for the eggs laid by both 
are too similar to permit of their being otherwise certainly 
separated. 
Both fuliginosa and stolidus were in full breeding plumage. 
Anosthetus and Bergii, on the other hand, were still in winter 
plumage, and on dissection showed no signs of breeding. The 
former, as I have already noticed, breeds probably during the 
monsoon on the Vingorla Rocks amongst other places, and 
Bergii, as we found later, breeds probably on Pere Mullpar and 
certainly on Astolah, an Island off the Mekran Coast, at the 
end of May and early i in June. 
I ought to note, that on our last visit to north island, we 
discovered why the young “sweeps,” (as the juvenile Sooty 
Terns were disrespectfully designated on board) would have 
none of the fish, flesh or fowl, which we tendered for their con- 
sideration; the parents we found were feeding them exclusive- 
ly on small C ephalapods (Sepiolas.) 
February 14¢h.—Last night we left Cherbaniani, for Bitra-par, 
which we sighted about 11 a.m. We did not take Chereapani 
en-route as according to the charts, and it has been regularly 
surveyed there is no spot on the reef not submerged at high 
water. But information subsequently received from some of 
the islanders at Amini leads me to believe that this is a mistake, 
and that this reef is even more frequented by sea birds than 
either Cherbaniani, or Pere Mullpar. 
