= 
174 ‘NOTES ON THE METEOROLOGY AND 
The frigate birds = principally on the level ground where the 
portulaca. grows short, and they remain nearly constantly . the 
egg the yolk weighed 263 grs., the ord ee 424 grs., the propor- 
tions being 1 : 3and 1:16. At the breeding time the cocks 
ve large scarlet pouches under their necks, which they _— 
when roosting. ese are ay 5 inches in diameter, an to se 
small enough to swallowed, and if a flock of e birds 
having callow young are disturbed, the birds in haus air res 
down on one another’s young: which they carry up into the air, 
let them drop a few yards, and again catch and swallow them. 
If a flock of wide-awakes has settled near a clump of trees about 
the time of hatching, the frigate birds roost on the branches 
left f 
small rain-cloud for many mi 
e puffinas are sc, $0 $e for the extreme regularity of their 
movements, starting at 4 a.m. for their fishing grounds ie the 
greatest punctuality. Before that time all is quiet, when alm 
a minute the air is filled with their cries,and by daybreak or pate 
atter they have disappeared. At 4 p.m. they o return and 
sport noisily in the air till sunset, when shee retire ros their holes. 
The flesh of most of a birds is strong-tasted, but the 
ctoral muscles of the frigate and tropic birds which are never 
fat are very good if cooked “separa from the bones, whilst the 
eggs of the wide-awake are excellen 
The signs of previous habitation were sufficiently numerous. 
There were three mareas built of coral rock slabs set on edge 
and filled in with loose blocks and shingle to a level surface about 
2 feet above the level of the ground. One of them was about 
