The Frigate-birds 227 



of nesting has been described by many writers, and they 

 constitute a curious picture of bird-life. The Frigate- 

 birds {Fregata), for instance, which love the open sea, and 

 are birds of prodigious powers of flight, assemble at the 

 breeding-season and nest in colonies on certain islands in 

 the Tropics. The nests are placed on trees or bushes, and 

 both sexes participate in the task of incubation. Penguins 

 too gather together in vast numbers on the rocky islands 

 of the Southern Ocean, and nest in company ; but perhaps 

 some of the most marvellous instances of an assemblage 

 at the breeding-time is to be noticed in the Albatrosses 

 {Diomedea). On the bare island of Laj'san in the Pacific, 

 Mr. Palmer, who was collecting there for the Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild's Museum, found the Laysan " Gooney " 

 {Diomedea iiiumitahilis) in thousands, covering the island 

 in fact, the young being in some places " as thick as they 

 could stand." The birds are absurdly tame, and lay their 

 eggs about anywhere. Some idea of the scene presented 

 by the White Albatross on Laysan can be gained by a 

 study of the photograph presented to the Natural History 

 Museum by Mr. Rothschild. 



On French Frigate Island, near I^aysan, a marvellous 

 gathering of the Sooty Terns, or Wide-awakes (Sterna fuH- 

 ginosa), was also observed by Mr. Palmer, and a photograph 

 of this extraordinary assemblage has also been presented 

 to our Museum by Mr. Rothschild. This same species of 

 Tern also herds in countless numbers on Ascension Island, 

 and " Wide-awake Fair," as the nesting-place is called, has 

 often been alluded to in works on ornithology. One of 

 the best accounts of it is that given by the late Commander 

 Sperling, who found the " fair " to consist of a plain about 

 fifteen acres in extent, in the interior of this most desolate 

 of islands. He says that no words can give an adequate 

 idea of the effect produced by thousands upon thousands 

 of these wild sea-birds floating and screaming over the arid 



