_Hydrochelidon fuliginosa._
_Sterna fuliginosa_, +Gmel.+—Aud. pl. 235.
_Hydrochelidon fuliginosum_, +Boie+.
[136] Length 17 inches, expanse [40, computed,] flexure 11⁶⁄₁₀,
tail 7⁵⁄₁₀, uropygials 4, rictus 2³⁄₁₀, tarsus 1, middle toe 1²⁄₁₀.
For my information concerning this species, I am principally indebted
to Mr. Hill; a single specimen only having fallen into my possession,
which was shot by Sam, sitting on a fish-pot buoy near Bluefields, in
the manner of the former species.
It is, however, a bird of considerable commercial importance; for its
eggs, in common with those of the Noddy (_Megalopterus stolidus_)
and the Sandwich Tern (_Thalasseus Cantiacus_) form an object of
profitable adventure to the crews of numerous small vessels, fitted
out in the spring from Kingston and other ports. The Pedro Kays are
the grand field whence this harvest is reaped. “These lonely islets,”
observes Mr. Hill, “are the resort of thousands and tens of thousands
of sea-fowl. As soon as visitors land, myriads of birds are upon the
wing in all directions. Some flocks rise, in circling flight, high up
into the air; and descending again in the same dense numbers as they
rose, settle in more remote places:—others break away hurriedly, and
fly in a wide sweep far around, but return again hastily to the rocks
they had quitted, reconciled to bear with the disturbance. The turmoil
and hubbub of the thousands of birds thus suddenly put upon the wing,
overpower, for a moment, the roar of the breakers, and darken the air
like the sudden passing of a cloud.
“The constant inhabitants of the rocks are some three species of
Gannet, all known as Boobies; some half a dozen species of Tern, among
which the Noddy and the Egg-bird are exceedingly numerous; together
with the Frigate Pelican, the Tropic-bird, and the Petrel; besides a
multitude of Gulls....
“There were four vessels from Jamaica there at this time [April, 1846]
gathering eggs; the months of March, April, and May being considered
the egg-harvest.
“The Kays are open to all adventurers; but the egg-gathering is
regulated by a custom which recognises the first-coming vessel as
commanding for the season. The second vessel in seniority is called
the Commodore; the first being styled the Admiral. They have a code
of laws, to which, in a spirit of honourable compliance, all are
expected to shew obedience; and in case of any infraction of the
obligations thus voluntarily imposed upon themselves, a jury selected
from the several vessels try complaints, and with due formality inflict
punishment for offences.
“The only kind of vegetation, excepting a single cocoa-nut, on
these desert rocks, is a stunted tree, called by the egg-gatherers
_saffron-wood_. It is extremely resinous, and the leaves are used by
them as tea; and I suspect it is the same plant as the _tea-shrub_
of the Bahama islands. Among the branches of these trees, at a very
small elevation from the ground, the Noddies build nests, that have
become large by a long accumulation of dung and sticks. The nests are
resorted to for a succession of years, and are repaired and raised
upon, season after season, till they have grown into huge piles, among
the branches;—the large masses of interwoven twigs prevailing even more
than the green foliage. The Egg-bird and the Sandwich Tern, if they are
unable to gather any of the dead foliage of these shrubs, or any dried
leaves of sea-weed, as a covering for the cavity in the rock in which
_they_ nestle, lay their eggs on the bare sand: just making so much of
a depression by scratching the ground as suffices to hollow it for the
reception of some three eggs, the addition of the _urate of lime_ from
their dung sufficiently cementing the loose particles.”
In a subsequent communication my friend reverts to the same interesting
subject. “The nests of the Noddy, which, though so elaborately framed
with sticks, are exceedingly shallow, with scarce any hollowing
at all, are always embellished with an addition of broken shells,
(_sea-shells_,) generally speckled and spotted like the eggs. Mr.
Wilkie examined them, and they were sea-shells. The obvious suggestion
for this curious prevalence of a habit, which he found to distinguish
_every nest_, was its deceptiveness; so much similarity existed between
the sea-shell and the egg-shell. I find that Audubon records a similar
fact with the Noddy Terns of the Florida Kays. These are his words:
‘In a great many instances, the repaired nests formed masses nearly
two feet in height, and yet all of them had only a slight hollow for
the eggs, _broken shells of_ +WHICH+ _were found among the entire, as
if they had been purposely_ +PLACED THERE+.’ Mr. Wilkie was totally
unacquainted with this noticed particular in Audubon’s ‘Ornithological
Biography.’ Has Audubon misread his note ‘_broken shells_,’ and by the
following words ‘of which,’ made them _egg-shells_, when they should
have been _sea-shells_? This is at least worth a remark. Mr. Wilkie
says he took the pieces of shell out of the nest, and inspected them.
Audubon merely says, ‘The bushes rarely were taller than ourselves, so
that we could easily _see the eggs in the nest_.’”
Specimens of the eggs of these three species of Tern, procured at the
Kays by George Wilkie, Esq., who kindly furnished the above information
to Mr. Hill for the benefit of this work, are now before me. There is
scarcely any difference in size, the dimensions being 2 inches by 1³⁄₈:
the Noddy’s, however, is of a more conical form. The ground of all is
white; that of the Noddy has a few blackish specks thinly scattered
over it, and at the larger end some irregular splashes of brown. That
of the Sandwich Tern is uniformly speckled with dull reddish-purple;
while that of the Egg-bird is marked with the same hue in fewer but
larger spots.
* * * * *
To the above _Laridæ_, Mr. Hill adds _Sterna argentea_ (+Bonap.+)
killed in Kingston Harbour; and _Hydrochelidon nigra_ (+Boie+) and
_Xema atricilla_ (+Bonap.+) as frequenting the Kays.
Of two other birds he thus gives me indications:—“A curious bird of
the family _Procellariadæ_ (the Petrels,) was found in the Rio Grande
in Portland after the late storms [in the autumn of 1846.] Hurricanes
introduce into these islands new birds, and disperse those peculiar
to these islands into other localities.” The other seems to be of the
family _Alcadæ_ (the Auks). “In the Blue Mountains, high up towards
their summits, is a curious _burrowing_ bird, which they call the
Blue-Mountain Duck. It is described as having webbed feet, and a hooked
parrot-bill. This description would indicate a species of _Alca_. It
inhabits holes in the cliffs, and is said to burrow to the extent
of ten feet. Nothing is known of its habit of feeding. E. M^cGeachy,
Esq., Crown Surveyor for the county of Surrey, first informed me of the
existence of such birds. He had himself taken them from their burrows.
The facts have also been assured to me by other observers.” A specimen
of this bird is said to be in the possession of George Atkinson, Esq.,
of Newcastle-on-Tyne, who, in answer to an application from me, kindly
promised me a particular description; but other engagements, probably,
have not yet afforded him the necessary leisure.
+Fam.+—COLYMBIDÆ. (_The Divers._)