470 MR. W. B. ALEXANDER ON THE 



DlOMEDEID*. 



Nealbatrtts chlororhynchus carteri {Rothschild). Yellow-nosed 

 Molly mawk. 



A skull obtained on Pelsart Island in 185)4 is in the W.A. Museum. 

 When on the unfortunate Federal trawling ship 'Endeavour,' in June 1912, 

 I found these birds numerous in tbe neighbourhood of the Abrolhos. 



Lariformes. 



L A 1! I V M. 



Hydroprogne tschegrava strenua (Gould). Caspian Tern. 



These birds occur in pairs or in small colonies on nearly all the islands, 

 often nesting in company with other species. We found eggs or young birds 

 on West Wallaby Island, one of the Pigeon Islands, Long Island, Wooded 

 Island, and Pelsart Island. In most cases young birds were more numerous 

 than eggs, and some of the young were almost fledged. Mr. Mathews, in 

 the 'Birds of Australia/ slates that the Australian form of Caspian Tern 

 never nests in colonies, but on Wooded Island I counted eight nests close 

 too-ether, whilst, judging by the number of old birds, there was a larger 

 colony at one spot on Pelsart Island. Hall reported a colony of some 

 13 pairs nesting on West Wallaby Island in 1899. 



Thalasseus bergii (Lichtenstein). Crested Tern. 



Distributed throughout the islands. Breeding colonies were met with on 

 West Wallaby Island, Wooded Island, and Pelsart Island. The young birds 

 were much more numerous than the eggs, and many of them were almost 

 fully fledged. There are two specimens in the W.A. Museum from the 

 Abrolhos, but I have been unable to decide whether they should be referred 

 to T. bergii pelecanoides (King) or T. bergii gwendolenw, Mathews. They do 

 not appear to differ in size from birds from Barrow Island and Bedout Island, 

 which would be the former according to Mathews, but they are also similar 

 to birds from the neighbourhood of Perth, the type-locality of the latter. 

 The only specimen in the W.A. Museum, which is decidedly larger than any 

 of the others, is one from Bsperance on the south coast. 



Sterna dougalli gracilis (Gould). Roseate Tern. 



These birds were met with in large flocks sitting on the reefs on North 

 Island, East Wallaby Island, Long Island, Eat Island, Wooded Island, and 

 Pelsart Island. We did not find them nesting until the last day of our visit, 

 when we found a considerable colony on the north end of Pelsart Island 

 which had just begun to lay on the piles of coral fragments. Campbell also 

 found them nesting on Pelsart Island. 



