the group consists of seven small islands, cagarra, laje da cagarra, filhote da cagarra (cagarra's pup), praça onze (eleven's square), matias, palmas and ilha comprida (long island). the origin of the names, though, remains a mystery.

according to popular belief, the archipelago's name comes from the fact that the local bird population tends to drop their waste over the islands, which made the colonizers name them after the portuguese expression for the act.