ng tropic birds.) 'These latter,
who flew with a gentle, flapping motion, would actually fly up to us and
scan our countenances with an almost human expression of interest and
curiosity.' (Darwin, in his account of another Christmas Island in the
Indian Ocean, also describes these gentle creatures as being of ethereal
beauty.) 'Some, indeed, permitted themselves to be caught, and although
their delicate, fragile forms quivered with fear when they came in
contact with our hands, they would, when released, return to us again
and again, as if seeking to solve the mystery of what strange beings
were these that had invaded their retreat. In one rookery there were
many varieties of these oceanic birds, and a species of booby that
seems to be peculiar to Christmas Island. In size and colour they much
resemble the ordinary gannet of our cold northern seas. Their plumage is
of a wondrously bright snow white, with the exception of the primary and
secondary feathers of the wings, and the _retrices_ or tail feathers,
which are of a glossy black. The skin of the cheeks and chin is devoid
of feathers, and of a jet black colour, the beak a delicate yellow blue,
the legs bright blue. The solicitude of the female birds of this species
for their offspring was most interesting to witness. Their nests were
of the rudest description, being merely circular heaps of sand raised in
the open plain and exposed to the fury of storms. As we approached the
nests the mother birds settled themselves down upon their single egg
and screamed loudly, but would permit themselves to be lifted off, yet
struggled violently in our hands to get back again. Although there were
thousands of these nests within a radius of an acre, a brooding
hen might easily have been passed unnoticed, for her white plumage
corresponded so well with the hue of the coral sands that one was apt to
kick against the nest were it not for the agonised, barking note of the
poor mother. The male birds, however, of this species did not show any
marital concern for their partners. They were usually seated near the
nests, but at once took to flight upon our approach. Further on, among
a thicket of scrubby vegetation, we found a rookery of many thousands of
the superb red-tailed tropic bird (_Phaeton phoenicurus_), also engaged
in incubation. Their nests were mere circular excavations in the sand,
under the shade of the bushes of the thicket. Each nest contained an
egg of pure white, dotted wi