186 Mr. J. N. Kennedy on Birds 



The following notes are the outcome o£ observations 

 made by me between 11 November, 1912, and 6 May, 1913, 

 during- which period H.M.S. 'Melpomene,' to which ship I 

 then belonged, was being refitted in the Naval Dockyard. 



TIjc nomenclature adopted is that of the A.O.U. Check- 

 List of North American Birds, 1910. 



Phaethon americanus O.- Grant. 



The Yellow-billed Tropic Bird visits the Bermudas in 

 large numbers for breeding purposes, arriving generally 

 about the end of February or beginning of March *. 



The writer's earliest record is February the 23rd, 1913, 

 on which date several of these birds were observed by 

 Lieutenant C. R. Peploe, E,.N., at Castle Harbour — a 

 favourite nesting place. On 19 April nests in the cliffs 

 near Whale Bay contained young, but fresh eggs were 

 taken on 22 April. 



In obedience to the brooding instinct which possesses 

 them at this time, the birds were in the latter part of April 

 still sitting in nests which had been robbed of their eggs. 

 They did not attempt to fly out of their nest-holes on being 

 approached; and when sticks were put in, the birds would 

 seize them in their bills and hold on so tenaciously that they 

 could be drawn out to the entrance. When brought out 

 they were always so terror-stricken that they lay helpless 

 on the ground for a considerable time before taking 

 wing. 



On 25 April a nesting colony of six or seven pairs was 

 discovered in the battlements above the naval rifle-range in 

 Ireland Island. Some of the birds were flying gracefully 

 about over the sea, and every few moments one of them 

 would wing its way up to a nest-hole, flutter for a moment 

 at the entrance as if trying to alight, and then sail out again 

 to its companions. One bird which had successfully alighted 

 and entered its hole was forcibly ejected almost immediately 

 afterwards by the sitting bird, probably its mate, in the 

 most undignified manner. 



* Eeid, Zool. 1877, p. 487. 



