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bird and its eggs.” It is not unusual to meet with it in the Bay of Bengal and about the Andamans 
and Nicobars ; and it is known to breed in the neighbourhood of the Mauritius. It occurs also in 
Aneiteum, where its tail-feathers are much prized by the natives, who call it “ Intoneg ” *. 
I have noticed in passing through the tropical seas that, as compared with the South Pacific 
(the great nursery, so to speak, of the Petrel family), these placid waters are singularly destitute of 
bird-life ; indeed for a whole day together, sometimes, there is no animate sign except the feverish 
movements of the little flying-fish which are perpetually rising out of the water, fluttering a few 
yards in a direct line, and then dropping out of sight with a tiny splash, or, during a perfect calm, the 
appearance of thousands of “ Portuguese men-of-war ” (the pretty blue Physalis) floating listlessly on 
the bosom of the deep. It is pleasant at such a time to descry a “ Straw-tail ” or “ Boatswain-bird ” 
(by which names the sailoi's call the Phaethon) hovering in the sky far above the masthead or flying 
around the ship. I saw one for a short time in the full heat of the Tropics (lat. 11° S., long. 24° 21' 
W.). It hovered over our steamer with a rapid flapping of the wings, as if making an inspection, 
and then, ascending high in the air, made a swift sweep far over the ocean and we saw it no more. 
Mr. Macgillivray, who obtained several on Eaine’s Islet in the month of June, gives the following 
account : — “ Upon one occasion three were observed performing sweeping flights over and about the 
island, and soon afterwards one of them alighted. Keeping my eye upon the spot, I ran up and 
found a male bird in a hole under the low shelving margin of the island bordering the beach, and 
succeeded in capturing it after a short scufile, during which it snapped at me with its beak, and 
uttered a loud, harsh, and oft-repeated croak. It makes no nest, but deposits its two eggs on the bare 
floor of the hole, and both sexes assist in the task of incubation. It usually returns from sea about 
noon, soaring high in the air and wheeling round in circles before alighting. The eggs are blotched 
and speckled with brownish red on a pale reddish-grey ground, and are two inches three-eighths long 
by one inch four-eighths-and-a-half broad. The contents of the stomach consisted of beaks of cuttle- 
fish. The only outward sexual difference that 1 could detect consists in the more decided roseate 
blush upon the plumage of the male, especially on the back ; but this varies slightly in intensity in 
different individuals of the same sex, and fades considerably in a preserved skin.” 
Dr. Crowfoot writes (Ibis, 1885, p, 268) ; — “This bird breeds on Norfolk Island, Nepean Island, 
and Phillip Island, but the last-mentioned island is its principal resort, and here it may be counted by 
hundreds. It lays its single egg on ledges of rock, in cracks of the cliffs, under overhanging boulders, 
and in such-like situations. The bird defends its nest with its strong beak, and may be easily caught 
on the nest. On Norfolk Island the eggs are difficult to get, but on Phillip Island they may be 
readily obtained. The young Tropic-bird is a curious-looking object, being completely covered with 
thick snow-white down. The eggs vary in length from 2‘66 inches to 2’85, and in breadth from 1-75 
inches to 2T6. They have a reddish-brown ground-colour, and are covered all over with fine dark 
reddish and violet-brown markings. Some have the colouring-matter apparently partially 
washed off.” 
The best account I have seen of the nesting-habits of this bird is that given by the Earl of 
Pembroke in his little book of adventures in the South Pacific, already cited. I have examined a 
large series of eggs collected on Lord Howe’s Island, and found them differing in shape from a thick 
ovoid to a long ovoido-conical form, and varying in colour from pale stone-grey, minutely freckled 
with darker grey to a splashed brown surface, as rich in colouring as a Merlin’s egg. Two specimens 
in my son’s collection from that locality are of equal size, measuring 2-8 inches in length by 1'8 in 
breadth ; one of them is greyish white, marbled at the larger end and dotted and freckled all over 
with brown, whilst the other is splashed, dotted and marked over its entire surface with reddish 
brown of a uniform shade. 
* “ The Tropic Bird is very common in the Islands ; the beautiful rose-coloured tail-feathers are largely esteemed by the 
natives, who pull them from the birds as they sit in their nests .” — Bloooham (1. c.). 
