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Show 1886.] MR. BOURNE ON THE FAUNA OF DIEGO GARCIA. 333 Gannets and Frigate-birds breed at the southern end of the island and although they are well known to be enemies on the wing, the Frigate-bird pursuing the Gannets and compelling them to disgorge the fish they have caught, yet they nest close together without molesting one another. The Gannets were hatching out on my arrival, but the Frigate-birds did not breed during my stay. The snow-white Tern, Gygis Candida, breeds in considerable numbers ; the peculiar situation in which this bird lays its egg has been described by Mr. Forbes in his recent work (' Wanderings of a Naturalist in the Malay Archipelago'), and I have nothing to add to his account. Although Whimbrels, small Plovers, Herons, and Sandpipers are numerous on the island, they do not appear to breed tbere. I was assured by the negroes that their eggs were never found ; and M . Spurs, a former resident on the island and a naturalist of no mean order, tried during a stay of fifteen years to obtain the eggs or young of these birds, but without success. There are no indigenous Mammalia or Amphibia. A species of Gecko (Platydactylas mauritanicusl) is common, and a Mud-Tortoise is abundant in some of the marshy pools. The former of these reptiles has probably come across in ships from Mauritius ; but I cannot account for the presence of the latter, which is unlikely to have been brought over as a pet, for it is abundantly provided with stink-glands and emits a most unpleasant odour ; it cannot have been brought over to serve any useful purpose, nor is it likely to have been accidentally imported. Yet, unless it was brought over by man, it is difficult to imagine how this animal can have found its way over the sea to so distant a spot as Diego Garcia. The insect life is not varied ; huge cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, and ants swarm everywhere and are a great pest. I found a few nests of Termites or White Ants in decayed cocoa-nut stems, but they are rare. Of Orthoptera there are two species of Locusta, one of Acridium, a Forficula, and a Gryllotalpa. Of Lepidoptera I found three species of Nocturnal and one of Diurnal Moths, and I noticed a few individuals of Vanessa bolini, and one individual of QZnone. Three species of A^schna were abundant in the marshes. Of Coleoptera I only found four species. Of Myriapods I found a Scolopendra, a luminous species of Geophilus, and an lulus. The most remarkable inhabitants of the land are the Crabs. Hundreds of Land-Crabs of the genus Gecarcinus are to be found in any part of the island, and are a great annoyance to the inhabitants, for they do great destruction in gardens, and prevent the cultivation of the potato or vegetables. There are several species of these crabs, one of which attains to a large size and gives a formidable nip with its large claws ; it is so conscious of its power that it attacks any person who is walking through the grass in which it lurks, and is able to give the naked foot of a negro a severe wound. Large Hermit-Crabs of the genus Coenobita are found, some of them hiding their abdomens in broken cocoa-nut shells in lieu of the shells of mollusks, there being but few of the latter that are large enough. The close relative of these Coenobita', |
