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Show 528 MR. J. J. LISTER ON THE NATURAL [Dec. 4, ARDEA JUGULARIS, Forster. Several of these birds were seen, flying along by the shore-cliff, or on the beach following the retreating waves on the look-out for food in the pools on the dead coral; their stomachs contained crabs and small fish. Two skins were brought home, one of a male in white plumage, the other of a female in slaty dress. CHARADRIUS GEOFFROYI, Wagler. A pair of these Plovers (females) were shot on the shore-cliff. The bird has a wide range in winter 1, from South Africa along the shores to India and Australia. TRINGOIDES HYPOLEUCUS (Linn.). A specimen of this very wide-ranging species was obtained. PHAETHON FLAVIROSTRIS, Brandt. TheseBoatswain birds in fine golden pink plumage were very beautiful objects, flying among the tree-tops by the shore, or high up, yellow specks against the blue, performing their evolutions with exquisite grace. The two long tail-feathers yielding to the resistance of the air add greatly to the beauty of their flight. They apparently had nests in the high trees2. At Flying-Fish Cove a pair of them were frequently seen flying backwards and forwards to and from one particular tree. Three were shot and preserved. Both sexes were coloured to the same degree. The stomachs contained the remains of fish and Cephalopods. In Professor Brandt's Monograph of the genus Phaethon 3 he says (writing in Latin) in the general account of the genus (pp. 5 and 6) :-"In recently killed adult animals, however, the glistening white colour is (perhaps always) more or less tinged with rose or vermilion or red-gold ;" and again, " This same colour, however, very quickly vanishes in specimens exposed in Museums." In the plates the adult birds of P. phcenicurus, Gm., aud of P.flaviventris, Brandt, are represented of the same rosy tinge. The intensity of the colour in these plates is about the same as in the Christmas Island birds. The suggestion that the adult plumage is always of this colour is not, however, correct, as I happen to know from my own experience ; for I obtained a perfectly white specimen of P. flavirostris from the Seychelles Islands, from a nest which contained a nearly fledged young bird. 1 'The Geographical Distribution of the Charadriida.,' H. Seebohm, p. 147. 2 In the Seychelles Islands this species builds in the hollow trunks of the dead Capucin trees as well as in the clefts of the granite rocks on some of the islands. 3 Tentamen Monographiae Zoologies. Generis Phaethon. J. F. Brandt. E commentariis Acad. Scientiarum Petropolitanae Memoires, 6e serie. Scienc. mathem., phys. et nat. t. v. 2nd part. Sc. Nat. |
