THE BOOBY AND THE MAN-O'-WAR BIRD IN THE 

 BAHAMAS 



CAY VERDE is a coral i.slet, some forty acres in area, situated 

 about two hundred and thirty miles southeast of Nassau in the 

 Bahamas. Like all reef keys, it is at the junction of a bank 

 with the ocean, and the background clearly shows how sharply the dark 

 blue water, indicating the great depths of the sea, is separated from the 

 lighter water over the shallow banks. 



Cay Verde was reached on the "Physalia," a small yacht which the 

 Marine Biological Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution placed at the 

 disposal of the Museum for this occasion. The voyage was begun at 

 Miami, Florida, on March 28, 1907, but unfavorable weather, including 

 a severe storm, in which the ' 'Physalia" narrowly escaped being wrecked, 

 delayed the arrival at Cay Verde until Ajjril 8. The Cay has no fresh 

 water and its only vertebrates are birds, one species of snake and two of 

 lizards. 



Tlie Boobies, of which there were about 1500 pairs, nested only 

 on the ground, making little or no nest. They were so tame that one 

 could walk about among the sitting or brooding birds ^vithout causing 

 them to leave their eggs or young. As a rule Boobies lay two eggs; 

 but the second is apparently not laid for about a week after the first, 

 and as a rule only one hatches. 



The two or three hundred Man-o'-War Birds which lived on Cay 

 Verde placed their nests in the dense growth of "sea-grape" and cactus 

 which covered a portion of the Cay. They lay but one egg. The 

 young acc]uire a covering of whitish down when a few days old, and this 

 is quickly followed by a surprising development of the feathers of the 

 back, which it will be observed more than cover the back before the 

 correspontling feathers appear in the young Booby. 



The male Man-o'-War Bird has the remarkalile habit of inflating its 

 red gular or throat-pouch until it resembles a toy balloon. The l)irds 

 sit on their nests or even fly about displaying this surprising appendage. 



With a wing expanse of between seven and eight feet and a l)ody 

 no larger than that of a hen. the Man-o'-War Bird is one of the most 

 powerful and graceful of flyers. It feeds largely on flying-fish, which 

 it catches in the air. 



43 



