May, 1907 



THE BIRD ISLANDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



75 



of the bill and a green iris. I^ike the Penguin the Cormorant is important com- 

 mercially as from it is yearly derived large quantities of guano which together with 

 the Penguin's eggs yields a considerable revenue to the Cape Government. The 

 guano is scooped up from the rocks on which the Duikers sit and also from the 

 nests and surrounding ground after the breeding season is over. The breeding 

 season for the Duikers is from December to July, though as in the case of the 

 Penguins a few can be found nesting at other times of the year. The nests are 

 placed as a rule on the ground and built up of sticks and twigs of the low plants 

 and grasses which grow on the islands. There is little or no lining. The eggs, 

 usually four in number, are of the Cormorant type, oval and pale blue with a chalky 

 white covering. They measure about 2.15x1.35 inches. 



From this bird and from the Malagas (.SV//c/ capoisis), which however does 

 not usually resort to the same islands as the Duiker, from 4000 to 5000 tons of 



BI^ACK-FOOTED PENGUINS ON NESTS IN A CLEFT OF THE ROCKS 



guano are obtained every year by the Cape Government and sold to the farmers at 

 about $30.00 a ton, approximately the cost price. 



I visited one of the breeding places of the Malagas in September, 1903. The 

 Island itself is called Malagas Island, and is situated at the entrance to the harbour 

 of Saldanha Bay, some seventy miles north of Cape Town. The island is quite a 

 small one, only about half a mile across and is surrounded by low rocks and cliffs 

 from ten to twenty feet in height so that landing was b}^ no means easy. 



I found the island, which was fairly flat, literally carpeted by the birds sitting 

 so close to one another as to be in many cases actually touching each other. Here 

 the nests consist of nothing but little mounds of mud and guano with a slight de- 

 pression at the top, while everywhere between the nests the ground was bare and 

 white with a deposit of excrement. Onh^ one Qgg is laid, and on this the bird sits 

 very closely, covering it with its large webbed feet so that it becomes very dirty 

 long before incubation is completed. 



