th delicate lilac spots, and in size rather
larger and rounder than that of the domestic hen. The females, as
well as the males, made no attempt to escape from their nests on our
approach, whether they had or had not the care of eggs, and consequently
several of our crew, with innate Polynesian vanity, soon caught a
number, and plucking out the two long scarlet tail feathers placed them
in their hat bands.

'A hundred yards away from the rookery of the tropic birds was one of
a colony of the snowy tern before mentioned. These gentle, black-eyed
creatures do not even pretend to construct a nest, but simply deposit a
solitary egg upon the bough of a tree (like the _gogo_, or whale bird).
They select for this purpose a tree destitute of foliage, and a branch
of horizontal growth. It is strange that, notwithstanding the exposed
situation of these eggs, they are very difficult to find; and it was
not until long after the solicitude of the parent birds informed us that
their spot of incubation was near that we could solve the mystery which
attended their nursery. Each egg is the size of a pigeon's, and marked
with either blood or chocolate-coloured splashes and spots of irregular
shape. Considering the slenderness of the branches on which they are
deposited, it is remarkable that the eggs (which appear to be at the
mercy of every passing breeze) should yet retain their extraordinary
position during incubation.' (Any Pacific Islander could easily have
explained this seeming mystery. The shell, when the egg is laid, is
covered with a strong adhesive coating. I have often seen a single egg,
laid upon a slender branch, swaying about in a strong trade wind, and
yet remain firmly in its position.) 'What may be the habits of the
newly-hatched birds we had no opportunity of learning, as none of the
latter came within our observation.

'Small reef birds (tern) were present in prodigious numbers, skimming
the waters of the coast with an erratic, rapid, but yet graceful flight,
like that of the stormy petrel. At night they assembled in vast numbers
on an islet in the lagoon, to roost on the trees. They are about the
size of an Australian snipe, and their forms are models of elegance and
beauty. Their plumage is in true slate colour, the secondary wings are
white, and a narrow white zone surrounds each eye; their legs and feet
are a pale blue, with white webs.

'Every now and then as we, during our visit, walked along the snow-white
b