554 Mr. Karl Plath : Wi-th the 



gently to the water^s edge, and were covered with a rank 

 growth of the Bermuda cedar^ varied with palmettos_, 

 century plants, and the too-abundant prickly pear. On the 

 ocean side they terminated abruptly in steep and almost 

 inaccessible cliffs of rock (Plate XXIV. fig. 2). Tropic- 

 birds were flying all about, occasionally sailing into their 

 holes in the cliffs. There were a number of holes in the 

 sandstone, and in several we could dimly see the birds a few 

 feet back. Finally, a bird on its nest was discovered on a 

 narrow ledge in a miniature caiion. The bird made no 

 attempt to fly, and after photographing it from a distance 

 of six feet, I approached near enough to actually touch it. 

 Even then it made no effort to leave its nest, but repeatedly 

 struck at my offending hand with its open beak, and uttered 

 a harsh, peevish cry. The long tail v^as bent over, and a 

 long feather in the nest seemed to indicate the fate of the 

 long tail-feathers, for afterwards nearly every nest seen was 

 ornamented with one or two, which had dropped from the 

 bird owing to its cramped position on the nest. I had 

 noticed that the birds flying about seemed to have orange- 

 red bills rather than the yellow to which they owe their 

 name, and this bird certainly had a red bill. I called the 

 attention of my companion to it, and we agreed that it 

 could be best described as bright orange-red, inclining 

 to vermilion on the upper ridge. This statement is not 

 in accord with any descriptions I have read of this species, 

 which describe the bill as pale or orange-yellow. A few 

 of the several hundred of the birds seen (about eight or 

 nine) had yellow bills, but these I judge had not attained 

 their full coloration, though they were breeding. 



Graceful as they are in the air, on the ground they are 

 extremely awkward, and seem to have difficulty in making 

 any progress over the rocks. They creep along on their 

 breasts, pushing with their webbed feet, sometimes aided by 

 their wings, and on one occasion I saw one hop or rather 

 bounce along over the soft sargassum weed, which covered 

 the floor of the cave in which it had its nest. I never saw 

 one standing up on its legs as do the Gulls and Terns ; 

 they always seemed to be sitting, and no doubt their legs 



