yiii AVIFAUNA OF LAYSAX. 



1 he air was accompanied by some peculiar evolutions. The male, on approaching the female, 

 swung his tail from side to side and up and down, almost doubling it up under him, and this 

 it continued for a long time. 



May oO.-On account of the very bad weather we have had since Wednesday I have 

 been unable to write my log, but I take notes as I go along, which I here record. On the 

 27i h at sea all day and nothing to note. 



May 28.-Passed and sailed round Keeker Island. A strong wind and a heavy sea made 

 landing impossible. Necker Island is a large rock with no vegetation whatever upon it; 

 nearly all round its sides appeared perpendicular, except one small place on the S.AV. side, 

 where in calm weather I believe I could have landed, but I did not see the use of staying 

 round this island lor an indefinite period to await a calm sea: we therefor,, made straight 

 for French Frigate Islands, where we have just anchored (May 30), but cannot land yet on 

 account of the surf. All the way from Niihau we have seen plenty of the same species of 

 sea-birds I have mentioned before, but yesterday, for the first time, I saw a Storm-Petrel 



[Thalas8idroma ? — W. 11.]. 



Trench Frigate Islands are simply large low sandbanks with little or no vegetation on 

 them. There is also one rock a hundred and twenty-live feet high, which it is perfectly 

 impossible to land on, but it is covered with sea-birds. 



May 31.— This evening I have camped out on one of the sandbanks, the ship being three 

 miles off. This bank is literally covered with birds, chiefly two species of Tern. Most of 

 their young are nearly ready to fly, some even arc flying. Besides these Terns there are a 

 few Gannets and Albatross. My assistant and I have to-day carefully examined all the birds 

 on this shoal, inspecting eggs, young, &c. The White-hreasted Tern (SaUplana fuliginosa) 

 lays only one egg and deposits it anywhere on the sand ; their young are of a dark brown 

 colour with spots, and are the same bird which I mistook for a different species on Niihau 

 (cf. antea, p. vii). 



The other Tern mentioned above also lays one egg only, but seems to prefer the centre of 

 small growing bunches of grass to deposit it on. A few of the Gannets are still incubating, 

 although some young birds arc almost ready to fly. They lay their eggs on the sand, two 

 in number, and the egg is extremely small for the size of the bird. We also found what I 

 believe to be Albatross eggs, but as we could not identify the parents I did not collect any. 

 There are also a few " Ulili " (Totams incanus) on the island, and I also saw a few 

 " Akekeke" (Strepsilas interpres) when we landed. There were also a lot of turtle on the 

 islands ; but the photographs will give a better idea of the immense number of sea-birds on 

 these shoals than anything I can write. 



j um 1.— All to-day I have been busy skinning and preserving specimens. Capt. Walker 

 came oil from the ship to us and talks of remaining till the 5th ; but as our water has almost 

 all leaked out, it depends on what provisions he sends to-morrow whether I can stay on the 

 sandbank or not. To-day Ave obtained specimens of a Petrel which breeds here, and so I 

 believe I have obtained every species of bird that breeds on this island. 



j (UW 2.— Capt. Walker sent a boat this morning to say he intended at once to change his 

 anchorage to another island, so I Avent on board again about mid-day. 



j une 3, — vy c l ft our anchorage this morning, sailed round the rock, and cast anchor 



