94 Transactions. — Zoology. 



upper part, including wing and tail, is glossy brownish black, 

 each feather lighter shafted, which is especially noticeable in the 

 larger wing covers ; side of the face and neck is greyish brown ; 

 throat and under-surface, white; eyes, black; feet, flesh colour, 

 darker on the edge; webs, yellowish; upper part of the bill, 

 blackish brown, lighter at the edges and tip. 



The measurement of adult bird, from tip of bill to the end of 

 the tail, is 14 inches. Wing, from flexor to the tips, 8-5; tail, 

 25; bill, from the gape, 1-75; tarsus, 1*5; middle toe, 2. 



In December, 1880, I shot a pair of these Puffins, between 

 Morotiri and Taranga Islands, and in the same month I found 

 young birds on the larger Morotiri Island. In October, 1882, 

 on the north-eastern portion of Hauturu Island, I found a 

 female of Pujfinus gavius sitting on an egg, and, at the same 

 place, towards the end of November and early in December, I 

 found young birds. 



Puffinus gavius come on shore in September, to clean out 

 their burrows or make fresh ones, which they accomplish by 

 digging with the bill and extruding the refuse with their 

 feet ; they work during the day, and after sunset they leave 

 for their ocean haunts, returning before sunrise. These birds 

 breed in single pairs. The entrance of the burrow is from 4-5 

 inches in diameter ; the distance to the chamber, from 1 foot 6 

 inches to 3 feet. The chamber is 1 foot 6 inches long, and about 

 1 foot 8 inches high; in this there is a deepening with a few 

 leaves, on which, in October, the female lays a white egg, which 

 is 2-35 inches in length, by 1-75. She hatches during the day, 

 when the male is generally out at the ocean, from which he 

 returns after sunset, when the female leaves for the haunts, re- 

 turning before sunrise, continuing this process till the young birds 

 are a few days old, when both parents absent themselves during 

 the day, but return after sunset to feed their young with an oily 

 substance or matter which they disgorge into their bills. The 

 young birds are covered with darkish grey down, and are full- 

 grown in March, when they leave the breeding resorts for the 

 ocean. The Natives procure and use them for food. The adult 

 bird makes a noise resembling the cackling of a fowl, especially 

 before bad or wet weather, from which the natives name them 

 Hakoakoa; and at such times, when the Natives hear this bird, 

 they never venture out at sea in their canoes or boats. 



Their enemies, besides man, are cats, dogs, and pigs. I 

 pi-ocured a series of specimens, as you see here, for observation 

 and examination. 



