40 
AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
70 Sooty Tern, Wide-awake, Egg-bird, S, fuUginosa (S. fus- 
cata, A.O.U.), tropical, sub-tropical seas, Br. (aoc). 
v.c. shores 17 
Upper, crown, wings, line from bill past eye, tail black; 
forehead, under white; bill, feet black; like 69, but 
larger, blacker above; f., sim. Fish, squid. "Oo-ee." 
71* White-faced Ternlet, Sea-swallow, Little (Fairy) Tern, 
Taraiti, 8. nereis, A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Little Tern. 
c. shore 10.5 
bird but leave the nest for a moment, and Gulls quickly rob it of 
Its contents. They are scavengers, and eagerly follow a 
3tef^mer at lunch-time to arather the scraps. An interesting sight 
of Currie Harbor, King Island, is to see the large company of 
Seagulls nesting undisturbed on a tiny, bare, rocky islet close to 
the pier. 
It was noted that, whenever the Noddies were disturbed, and 
rose, protesting loudly, the Gulls immediately gathered and 
hovered over the trees containing Noddies* nests. Evidently 
they were looking for unprotected eggs. 
Placed in the next family are the seven robber Gulls or sea 
pirates — Skuas. We read of these birds in the old Royal 
Readers, but few recognized them when they followed us to the 
Summer School of 1910. They also followed our afternoon-tea 
cruise to South Channel fort, and played their usual game of 
compelling the Seagulls to give up the scraps they had gathered. 
