﻿402 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  sights 
  to 
  the 
  naturalist 
  is 
  the 
  quantity 
  of 
  Lizards 
  (Lacerta 
  

   dugesii). 
  These 
  Lizards 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  walls 
  by 
  the 
  

   roadside. 
  During 
  a 
  walk 
  in 
  the 
  country 
  behind 
  Funchal, 
  I 
  

   obtained 
  several 
  handsome 
  Spiders 
  (Argyope 
  trifasciata). 
  The 
  

   natural 
  history 
  of 
  Madeira 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  well 
  worked, 
  and 
  has 
  

   been 
  written 
  about 
  so 
  often, 
  that 
  a 
  long 
  account 
  in 
  this 
  paper 
  

   would 
  be 
  of 
  little 
  interest. 
  

  

  After 
  leaving 
  Madeira, 
  we 
  touched 
  Las 
  Palmas 
  (Gran 
  Canada), 
  

   and 
  St. 
  Vincent, 
  Cape 
  Verdes. 
  On 
  Dec. 
  12th 
  we 
  left 
  the 
  Cape 
  

   Verde 
  Islands 
  for 
  St. 
  Paul's 
  Rocks. 
  Five 
  days 
  later 
  we 
  sighted 
  

   this 
  lonely 
  group 
  of 
  barren 
  rocks, 
  which 
  are 
  situated 
  in 
  mid- 
  

   Atlantic. 
  St. 
  Paul's 
  Rocks 
  are 
  little 
  more 
  than 
  half 
  a 
  mile 
  in 
  

   circumference, 
  and 
  the 
  highest 
  point 
  is 
  sixty-four 
  feet 
  above 
  sea- 
  

   level 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  seldom 
  visited, 
  except 
  when 
  a 
  ship 
  sights 
  

   them 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  ascertaining 
  her 
  exact 
  position. 
  Con- 
  

   sequently 
  the 
  three 
  species 
  of 
  birds 
  which 
  inhabit 
  them, 
  and 
  

   breed 
  there 
  all 
  the 
  year 
  round, 
  are 
  very 
  tame. 
  The 
  most 
  abun- 
  

   dant 
  bird 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  tropical 
  Gannet 
  (Sulci 
  leucogastra), 
  the 
  

   other 
  two 
  species 
  being 
  Noddy 
  Terns 
  (Anoua 
  stolidus 
  and 
  Mi- 
  

   cranous 
  leucocapillus). 
  The 
  Gannets 
  are 
  so 
  tame 
  and 
  fearless 
  of 
  

   man 
  that 
  we 
  had 
  to 
  push 
  them 
  off 
  their 
  nests 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  climb 
  

   the 
  rocks, 
  as 
  to 
  walk 
  amongst 
  them 
  with 
  unprotected 
  legs 
  whilst 
  

   they 
  are 
  sitting 
  is 
  a 
  painful 
  undertaking 
  ; 
  the 
  old 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  

   young 
  birds 
  bite 
  savagely 
  at 
  one's 
  legs. 
  Besides 
  the 
  birds, 
  these 
  

   rocks 
  are 
  inhabited 
  by 
  swarms 
  of 
  curious-looking 
  red 
  and 
  green 
  

   Crabs 
  (Grajjsus 
  strigosus), 
  which 
  were 
  crawling 
  in 
  thousands 
  all 
  

   over 
  the 
  rocks, 
  and 
  feeding 
  on 
  remnants 
  of 
  flying 
  fishes 
  which 
  

   the 
  Gannets 
  had 
  brought 
  to 
  their 
  nests 
  as 
  food 
  for 
  the 
  young. 
  

   A 
  small 
  cricket 
  is 
  fairly 
  numerous, 
  and 
  a 
  tiny 
  beetle 
  and 
  a 
  

   feather-feeding 
  moth 
  were 
  also 
  obtained. 
  The 
  sea 
  round 
  St. 
  

   Paul's 
  Rocks 
  swarms 
  with 
  Sharks, 
  and 
  more 
  than 
  twenty 
  were 
  

   caught 
  from 
  the 
  ship 
  during 
  our 
  few 
  hours' 
  visit. 
  Numbers 
  of 
  

   fish 
  were 
  caught 
  by 
  our 
  party 
  from 
  the 
  rocks 
  ; 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  

   Cavalli, 
  a 
  Wrasse, 
  and 
  the 
  curious 
  Trigger-fish 
  (Ballistcs 
  sp.). 
  

  

  After 
  spending 
  a 
  few 
  hours 
  ashore 
  on 
  St. 
  Paul's 
  Rocks, 
  we 
  

   sailed 
  for 
  the 
  Brazilian 
  convict 
  island, 
  Fernando 
  Noronha. 
  

   During 
  our 
  visit 
  there 
  were 
  about 
  two 
  hundred 
  and 
  seventy 
  

   convicts 
  on 
  the 
  island, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  now 
  no 
  longer 
  sent 
  there. 
  

   They 
  were 
  all 
  murderers, 
  but 
  from 
  what 
  we 
  saw, 
  I 
  should 
  say 
  

  

  