BIRDS OF LAYSAN AND THE LEEWARD ISLANDS. 
785 
Gygis alba kittlitzi. White Tern. 
Gygis alba kittlitzi Hartert, Ratal. Vogelsamm. Senckenb. 1891, p. 237. 
On Laysan the white tern, or love bird, as it is sometimes called, is one of the least abundant of 
the breeding sea birds. Small colonies are scattered over the interior of the island, but the largest is 
found in the vicinity of the fresh-water pond. Here the little white terns lay their eggs on lumps of 
phosphate rock, among bush grass, or under the overhanging shelter of some shrub or clump of vines. 
Only one egg is deposited. We found all gradations, from fresh eggs to fully fledged young, which 
resemble the parent. The nestlings clung to the rocks with great persistence and fortitude. The air 
of independence which they are capable of assuming is very amusing. A peculiar trait of this white 
tern is its habit of occasionally depositing its egg on the bare limb of a bush, as depicted in plate 4, 
fig. 16. Here the bird stands over it, with confidence born of success probably, and the young is 
undoubtedly hatched, though we saw none. We watched the bird sitting on the egg shown in the 
photograph, and when she flew off it was not disturbed in any way. It is safe to assume that a heavy 
wind would play havoc if this habit was very general. We frequently saw these terns resting near 
their “ homes,” the two standing side by side, but they do not seem to brood so much as other species. 
They do not sit on their egg in the ordinary manner, but stand over it, as their legs are short. 
The eggs are very handsome, the ground color varying from a faint greenish through very pale 
buff, cream, and white, with traces of yellowish. The marking is different on each egg. One is 
heavily blotched with French gray, over which are thick irregular lines and streaks of raw umber 
forming a band near the larger end, but scattered over the whole egg. Over this are fewer lines, 
almost black, confined to larger half. Another egg is streaked and mottled with drab-gray and olive. 
Other eggs are heavily blotched with slate gray, over which are irregular patches of very deep Prout’s 
brown, almost black in spots. In some examples the markings tend to become streaks; in others irreg- 
ular spots. The shape is bluntly ovate, broadly elliptical ovate, or oval, which last is perhaps the 
most prevalent contour. An ovate specimen measures 42 by 30, an oval 40 by*32 millimeters. 
The old bird brings two silvery fishes to the young and she invariably carries them crosswise in 
her bill. Dr. Gilbert captured two such fishes from a young tern. These turned out to be a silvery 
half-beak, and some species not yet identified. Mr. Schlemmer told me he had always observed two 
fishes, but Henry Palmer, 0 on Midway Island, saw an old bird with “not less than four in its beak 
at once.” The interesting part is how the old birds capture the additional fish and still retain the first 
one. Certainly the difficulty would seem great in the case of four fishes! 
Whenever we happened to wander near their eggs or young the white terns came and hovered in 
front of our faces and peered intently at us as if trying to divine our intentions. Just out of reach 
they would flutter, turning their heads from side to side, occasionally uttering a droll and wheezy 
little cry. They did not offer to peck us, but were content to stare and wheeze. When fully satisfied 
they flew silently away, looking back from time to time, but would sometimes return for several addi- 
tional inspections. Not infrequently, when we were nowhere near a colony, one of these terns, 
attracted by the unusual sight of white helmets, changed its course and came close to gaze at us with 
the same disconcerting intentness. 
Some idea of the beauty of this species will be gained when it is remembered that their plumage 
is pure white, except a black orbital ring. 
Henry Palmer (op. cit. , p. xvi) found Gygis abundant on Midway Island and observed it at 
Gardner Rock, and we saw many individuals off French Frigate Shoals. On Necker it is one of the 
commonest terns, far more abundant than on Laysan, and I am inclined to think that the species 
finds the rocks a more congenial home. The seeming disregard for the welfare of the egg is well dem- 
onstrated here, for it is deposited on any little insufficient shelf of the rock, usually at the edge of 
some shallow cavity, where it clings, so to speak. I confess myself somewhat astonished at the reck- 
lessness of this little tern. How the egg is ever balanced on some of the extraordinary places upon 
which it is deposited, when the birds are continually flying on and off, passes comprehension. I 
observed many nestlings, all small, and saw one little bird emerging from the egg, its mother standing 
over it and resolutely refusing to desert her offspring, even though I stroked her back. She did not 
appear frightened, but rather indignant at intrusion. The species nests all along the steep face of the 
island, where they can be easily seen against the dark rock. Also at .Bird Island we found the species 
Rothschild, Avifauna of Laysan, etc., p. xiv. 
