NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 
520 
required as a lighthouse, the woodwork inside lias long since decayed, hut in falling has 
not injured the masonry. There are now no supplies of any sort at the beacon, even the 
iron tank is completely worn out, nor would it be of any use landing another, unless the 
tower were re-roofed ; however, as any party which made Raine Island could reach the 
settlement at Cape York in twenty-four hours, there is no necessity to re-victual the 
beacon. 
The birds form the most striking feature at Raine Island. They are in such numbers 
as to darken the air as they fly overhead, and the noise of their various mingled screams 
is very trying to the ears at first, but not so painful as that of a penguin rookery. Eleven 
species of birds were seen on the island. A Heron, seen only at a distance, the 
cosmopolitan “Turnstone” ( Strepsilas inter pres), and a small Gull (Larus novce-hollcindice) 
appeared to be casual visitors to the island, as they were not nesting there, the Turn- 
stones being seen in flocks on the shore. The birds breeding on the island were as 
follows : — A Landrail (Rail us pectoralis), a widely spread species, occurring commonly 
in Australia, Central Polynesia, the Moluccas, and the Philippines. These birds were so 
tame that they could be knocked down with sticks and caught by the hand ; they had 
full-fledged young running about. A Tern (Sterna fidiginosa), a widely spread species, 
the well-known “ Wideawake ” of Ascension Island, was exceedingly abundant. The 
stretches of flat ground above the shore line covered with grass were absolutely full of 
the brown fledged young of this bird, and eggs were already very scarce. A Noddy 
(A , 10 us stolid us), the same bird as that at St. Paul’s Rocks and Inaccessible Island, so 
far off in the Atlantic, makes here a rude nest of twigs and grass amongst the low 
bushes, but often nests also on the ground. There were plenty of eggs of this bird, it 
being not so advanced in breeding as the Tern. Two species of Gannets (Sula leucogastra 
and Sula cyanops) were nesting on the ground, and especially on a plot quite flat and 
bare of vegetation, probably the site of the dwellings of the men employed in 1844 in 
putting up the beacon. Sula leucogastra, the “Booby” of St. Paul’s Rocks, makes a 
slight nest of green twigs and grass on the ground. Sula cyanops makes a circular hole 
in the earth, about inches deep. This species is nearly white, with the naked parts 
about the head of a dull blue, and a bright yellow iris, which gives the bird a ferocious 
look as it ruffles its feathers and croaks at an intruder. It would almost seem as if the 
cause of the colouring of the eye might be the savage appearance which it gives to the 
bird, possibly thus protecting it from attack. A third smaller species of Gannet (Sula 
piscator ) has red feet, which distinguish it at once from the other two ; one or two 
of its nests were observed made in the bushes, like those of the noddies, raised 6 inches 
from the ground. There remain to be mentioned the Frigate Birds (Fregcita minor), 
whose nests w T ere nearly all confined to a small area near the cleared patch already referred 
to. They are, like those of Sula piscator, raised on the bushes, and are compact platform- 
like masses of twigs and grass matted together with dung, about 8 inches in diameter. 
