138 DR. F. WOOD JONES ON THE [ Feb. 16, 
Wagler :—‘TIrides nigro-ceerulee: rostrum nigrum, basi coeru- 
leum ; lingua sublata rostro brevior ; pedes cerulei, palma alba, 
ungues nigri.” 
In a good description of this bird (Cassin, U.S. Explor. Exped. 
p. 389) the feet are said to be “pale blue, having a deeply 
indented yellow membrane.” In Gould’s ‘ Birds of Australia,’ 
vol. vii., the feet are described as orange, and are figured of that 
colour in the accompanying plate. In other accounts it is stated 
that the feet are yellow or brown. The bird, as I have seen it in 
the Cocos-Keeling group, invariably has the feet entirely blue, 
the web being slightly lighter than the toes. 
Text-fig. 7. 
Egg of Gygis candida, laid on the branch of a grongong tree (Cordia 
subcordata). 
The bird is a common one, and occurs in all the islands. It 
breeds in the Southern group as well as in Keeling Island. 
Although the bird feeds mostly on fish, it may often be seen 
hovering around the papaia-trees and eating the soft fruit. It is 
quite arboreal in its habits, and its one egg is laid sometimes at a 
height of 40 feet from the ground. Most of the eggs were found in 
September, but on visiting Keeling Island in June two eggs were 
found after very little searching. The egg is almost perfectly oval 
(40-43 mm. in its long axis, 21-22 mm. in its short axis); it is 
