30 • EAMBLES OF A NATUEALIST. [Oh. II. 



of these islands, and are well-known to seamen. They % 

 heavily and usually low, fearlessly approachiag within gun- 

 shot, and even stone's throw, and some of the men amused 

 themselves with throwing lumps of coral at them as they 

 flew by, the same bird returning again and again at the rigk 

 of being knocked down- 



A walk through the interior of the island among the 

 shrubs and bushes revealed to me the domestic economy of 

 these birds. In the open places, and under the shelter of the 

 bushes, the mother gannets were sitting upon their nests and 

 eggs. The nests were mere hollows in the coral sand, 

 strewed with a few bits of grass, with some admixture of 

 feathers, and perhaps a piece of seaweed, forming, at best, a 

 very rude cradle, in which were deposited two eggs. These 

 eggs were about the size of goose eggs, white, with a 

 suspicion of a blue tinge, not smooth and glossy like hens' 

 eggs, but more or less scratched, as though the scratches 

 were made when the external coat was soft, and had after- 

 wards dried, preserving the marks. One nest alone contained 

 four eggs. The poor bird sitting upon the nest would show 

 symptoms of uneasiaess as we approached, pecking the ground 

 or coarse grass fiercely with its long, straight beak, but did 

 not offer to quit the nest untU we were within two or three 

 yards of it, or even less. Then placing the end of its bill 

 upon the ground, with a gulping effort it vomited up its 

 meal, depositing, it beside the nest, and floundering forward, 

 took wing and rose into the air. This was the proceeding at 

 nearly every one of the hundreds of nests which we disturbed; 

 it was evident that the birds had just gorged themselves with 

 food, and then sat down upon their eggs (unless, indeed, 

 their mates had brought them food, a circumstance which I 

 did not see myself), and that they were unable to raise them- 



