556 Mr. Karl Plath : With the 



appear to be the favourite food^ and for this reason the 

 abundant Tropic-bird is not especially popular with the 

 fishermen, who find the squid a most invaluable bait. 



After a few weeks the little chick is left much alone, the 

 parents visiting it with food but two or three times a day. 

 The time spent in the nest is about two months, and the 

 young bird is then practically fully feathered. 



The old birds would not leave their nests while I was in 

 the vicinity, so I took advantage of this and made several 

 sketches in colour. One bird actually sat for me for a 

 space of three hours while I painted its portrait, life-size, 

 and it proved an excellent model. My presence did not 

 affect it, although the restlessness of the inquisitive little 

 chick, which insisted on poking its head out and watching 

 me, caused the mother to remonstrate with a guttural " kuk- 

 kuk,^^ and tuck the little fellow under her breast or wing. 



Another nest was in a fissure of rock, and here I found a 

 newly-hatched bird and its red-billed parent. The old bird 

 had a tail which measured twenty-two inches, which is about 

 four inches above the average, and had a very deep rosy tint 

 on the neck, scapulars_, and tail. After removing her from 

 the nest she fluttered down to the water, floating very high 

 with her tail raised almost vertical, and, with much flapping, 

 finally rose in the air and flew gracefully aw^ay. I returned 

 to the young bird, and placed it in the open to photograph it. 

 While setting the camera, the little one lost its balance and 

 tumbled down about four feet, landing on the sharp rock. I 

 expected it to be killed, but it was still alive, so I placed it 

 back in the nest. K-eturning two days later, I found its 

 parents absent, but the youngster was apparently all right, 

 being quite perk and lively. On a subsequent visit, to my 

 surprise, I found a yellow-billed bird with a shorter white 

 tail on the nest, it being probably the other parent of the 

 young one, which seemed none the worse for its accident. 



After spending some time among the birds in the harbour, 

 I moved over to St. George's, taking the stage or bus from 

 Hamilton : the distance is twelve miles from Hamilton and 

 the fare a shilling. The ride along the fragrant oleander- 



