Reischek. — On Procellaria gouldi. 91 



After sunset, thick clouds of these Petrels swarm round 

 the cliffs, uttering the melancholy sound " ohi ! ohi .'" from 

 which the Natives named it " Ohi." Each one circles round its 

 burrow several times before it goes down to it ; then they stop 

 for a moment before entering. These birds go to and from their 

 burrows several times a night. When the young i3 hatched, 

 the female stops for a few days with her chick in the burrow ; 

 after that both parents leave every morning before sunrise, and 

 fly to their haunts on the ocean. Returning after sunset, they 

 circle round the burrows, then swoop down to the entrance and 

 call : when answered by the young bird, they enter. If both 

 birds come to the burrow together, one stops outside till the 

 other reappears. When feeding the young they make a 

 whimpering noise. Male and female rear the young together, 

 and defend them; but they are not so vicious as Parkinson's 

 Petrel. In February the young are full-grown, and very fat ; 

 the Natives go to collect and preserve them, in the same 

 manner as I have already described in a former paper. 



If any of these birds have to be preserved for scientific pur- 

 poses, great care must be taken to catch the bird by the bill, and 

 hold it tight together until it is killed ; then dry sand or earth 

 must be put in the bill, and the neck tied with a string or flax. 

 If these precautions are not taken the birds disgorge an oily sub- 

 stance at the intruder, and over their plumage, which renders 

 them useless. The old birds do the same, if caught directly after 

 their return from the ocean. This oily matter is mostly taken 

 from the Octopus (cuttle-fish), of which I found the remains in 

 their crops. When I was observing their breeding-place in 

 1882, on the Little Barrier, one of these birds went circling 

 round, but on noticing me would not come down, and kept on 

 calling. I heard the young bird answering from a burrow : 

 when I approached she was instantly quiet. Being a beautiful 

 moonlight night, I went a short distance away to watch. Pre- 

 sently the parents descended, stopped outside the entrance, and 

 went away. The next night I went to my post early, so as to 

 be there before the birds returned from the ocean. When they 

 arrived they circled round as usual, swooped down, and entered 

 the burrow. In July and August, 1882, hundreds of these 

 Petrels were washed ashore on the islands on the East Coast, 

 either dead or exhausted, and were eaten by the wild pigs. I 

 dissected several, but I could not ascertain any other cause of 

 death than the severe storms which raged previously. I never 

 found these Petrels inland, and they have decreased in numbers. 

 I even saw them rooted out by pigs and dogs, on the cliffs, where 

 only narrow ledges led to them. I procured specimens, as you 

 see here : adult, and young. 



