BIRDS OF THE SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS 365 



maurel in Graham Land, and by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14 

 in AdeHe and Queen Mary Land.^ The nests and young appear not to have been 

 described. 



On January 9 and 10, about forty nests were examined in the Sandefjord Bay district. 

 Of these twelve contained chicks a day or two old and in the remainder the eggs were 

 on the point of being hatched. The date of laying must thus be about the same as that 

 of Daption capensis. 



The nesting sites and nests are very similar to those of D. capensis, except that 

 generally more sheer and inaccessible locations are chosen. The nest consists of a 

 collection of small flat stones, and the single egg is white, very similar to that of D. 

 capensis but slightly larger. A thin chalky coating was found to be present on all the 

 eggs examined. 



The chicks are covered in uniform silvery grey down, lighter on the under surface, and 

 they have the blue-grey and rose-pink bills of their parents from birth (Plate XI, fig. 2). 



At the nests visited only one parent bird was present in most cases, but at a few the 

 pair were seen. On being approached the birds, after the usual manner of petrels, 

 ejected their stomach contents, and uttered a harsh high-pitched chatter, from time to 

 time punctuated with a shrill squeaking note. 



Measurements of several birds ranged between 



The feet, legs and toes are blue-grey, the webs pinkish purple, and the claws grey- 

 black. The upper mandible is mainly blue-grey with patches of pinkish and a black 

 patch near the nares. The tip is grey-black. The lower mandible is rose pink, with a 

 dark grey tip. 



This species is very similar to the Cape Pigeon in its general habits, and the two birds 

 are very frequently seen in company at sea. Probably they leave their breeding haunts 

 in the South Orkneys at about the same time, and there is no record of Priocella ant- 

 arctica being seen at the islands in the winter. 



The bird breeds in large numbers on the South Sandwich Islands, particularly in the 

 Southern Thule group, and in considerable numbers on Bouvet. At both these places 

 again they share their breeding grounds with Daption capensis. There are indications 

 that the Silver-grey Petrel also nests on some of the off-lying islands of the South 

 Shetlands, but the South Orkneys may be regarded as the South Atlantic headquarters 

 of the species. 



Thalassoica antarctica (Gmelin), Antarctic Petrel. 



Throughout the visit of the ' Discovery II ' not a single Antarctic Petrel was seen in 

 the vicinity of the South Orkneys, and it is certain this bird does not nest in the group. 



1 It is believed that nesting places were found in the Enderby quadrant by Sir Douglas Mawson's 

 expedition of 1929-30. 



