100 
BLUE ROCK-PIGEONS. 
‘off into the water. The fishing cormorant evi- 
dently thinks these rocks an eligible station, and 
from them the captain, as he pulled ashore in 
his galley, shot a beautiful white spoonbill with 
a lemon-coloured crest. Geese, ducks and gulls 
are congregated together here in goodly numbers. 
The blue rock-pigeon appears to have regularly 
taken possession of, and to have colonised, Hai- 
leu,” which is the proj)er Chinese name of the 
island. The number and variety of other birds 
which make it their dwelling-place is remarkable. 
Swallows build in the caves which are hollowed 
out in parts of the huge trachyte cliffs, and here 
and there, on a giant pinnacle, is found a secure 
eyrie for the eagle and the kite. 
In the chasms of the deep precipices, wtere the 
sun glints on vast surfaces of shining silvery 
micaceous schist, on narrow ledges of white 
gleaming trachyte, and on the Iffack, frowning, 
weather-stained, lichen-spotted masses which over- 
hang the little bays, are seen blue rock-pigeons, 
walking about, cooing, l)Owdng to each other, and 
