116 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
the fish are driven into a corner by a row of natives, and 
caught in large rectangular hand-nets. Some fish are cap- 
tured in a circular net kept under water by a stone, while 
above it a bait is tied to attract the fish, which, when they 
come to nibble at it, are drawn up. Walls of coral rock 
are built on the reef to retain fish left behind at low tide. 
Children catch small fish in the pools, more for sport than 
food, by means of a toy bow and arrow; the arrow has one 
end fastened to the string of the bow, so when a fish is 
transfixed it cannot escape. Hels are caught by a noose 
at the end of a short stick. The fisherman chews up some 
flesh of a cocoanut for burley, and spits it out in front 
of the hole in which he suspects an eel is lying. . In front 
of this hole is placed the noose, and when the eel comes 
out the string is drawn tightly round it, and the eel dis- 
abled by a knock on the head with a club. 
The chief birds on the island are a small land bird 
with a note somewhat like that of the Australian night- 
ingale, the frigate bird, white tern, noddy, blue crane, 
white crane, and a sand-piper. 
The frigate bird (Itchee) is kept as a kind of pet by 
the natives on the roof of a booth-like structure called a 
bird-table. These birds are caught by a kind of sling 
shot. One of these was exhibited, and consisted of a piece 
of clam shell, nicely shaped, attached to a string 15 or 
16 fathoms long. The coil of string is held in one hand 
and paid out between the finger and thumb as the weight 
is thrown over the bird after swinging it round a few 
times. The men sometimes have catching competitions, 30 
up. At evening these birds go out to sea to meet the 
terns and noddies as they return to the island. These 
they catch by the tail, and, tipping them upside down, give 
them such a scare that they disgorge their supper, which 
is immediately devoured by the pirates. The white tern 
lays one white egg in the fork of a branch without any 
attempt at constructing a nest. Noddies are also tamed 
and kept as decoys, being taken up to the higher land on 
their perches in the evening, and.caused to ery out. This 
attracts the wild noddies as they return to roost, when 
they are caught by men with long-handled nets. The sand- 
piper (Dicketeboir) is kept by the young men for fight- 
ing purposes. They neyer get killed, because after fight- 
ing for about four minutes one bird reckons he has had 
enough, and runs away. A bird once beaten will never 
‘fight again. 
