Bird Island is a coral island, and one of the group known as Wreck Reef It is just one mile in circumference, and its surface rises about twelve feet above the sea level. Bird Island is leased from the Imperial Government by the Anglo Australasian Guano Company, whose headquarters are at Hobart town. The island is covered with deposits of guano of primo quality, und has been worked to great advantage for seven or eight years part. From 6000 to 8000 tons of guano have been already removed from the Island, and it is estimated that some 6000 tons still remain To remove this quantity, or in technical phraseology, to "work out the island," will occupy five or six years, as operations have to be suspended during the summer or hurricane season Last year, eighteen men and two boys, besides the superintendent, were employed on the island, but next year it is intended to increase the working force to thirty men.
