BIRDS OF THE SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS 369 



The nests are merely shallow depressions in the soil or rock debris in the crannies in 

 which they are made, and the birds show very little intelligence in their choice of sites, 

 except that they always select a hole with a narrow entrance. In one case in EUefsen 

 Harbour, and in five cases in Sandefjord Harbour, the nests were actually made in 

 blocks of ice which had evidently formed among the rocks during the winter. The birds 

 almost certainly return year after year to the same situations, and in these cases had not 

 sufficient initiative to forsake their nests when they found them iced in. 



The birds were only seen in small numbers near to the coasts in daytime, but in the 

 evenings they were present in large numbers in all the harbours visited, flitting about in 

 flocks over the surface of the water, and apparently feeding. At dusk they were con- 

 tinually flitting round the cliffs and screes, and creeping mouse-like about the entrances 

 of their nesting holes where their mates were on the nests. At this time they frequently 

 utter a loud and characteristic cry, consisting of a harsh call of three notes, the first 

 being about half as long again as the two following. To this the mate responds from 

 inside the nesting hole with a similar call in a slightly lower key, and with the second 

 and third notes more drawn out. This call is extremely loud, and on a still night can be 

 heard at a distance of a mile or more. At times, from inside their nesting holes, the 

 birds make a low whistling note. On several occasions, when in a boat very near to 

 feeding birds flitting about in flocks in the harbours, we heard them utter small 

 mouse-like squeaks, just audible. These notes were accentuated when a number of birds 

 were gathered about a scrap of food. 



In Sandefjord Harbour on January 10 some birds were observed possibly courting, 

 for among three squatting by a large rock two males were evidently making overtures 

 to a hen. One of the males eventually departed, but pairing was not seen to take place. 



The Scotia Expedition last saw Wilson's Petrels at the South Orkneys on March 23, 

 but in view of the lateness of their breeding dates it is probable that they do not usually 

 leave the islands until well into April. On April 14, 1930, many birds were seen just 

 north of the South Shetlands, and no doubt these were moving northward. By early 

 May there are no Wilson's Petrels to be seen in the high latitudes of the Southern Ocean, 

 and during the winter they are entirely absent. The majority of them no doubt perform 

 the long migration to the high northern latitudes. 



Fregetta tropica melanogaster (Gould), Eastern Black-bellied Storm Petrel. 



This bird visits the South Orkneys in small numbers in the summer, and its breeding 

 grounds are almost certainly confined to Laurie Island. At dusk small numbers of 

 birds were seen, with Oceonites oceamcus, on different occasions in Jessie Bay, Scotia 

 Bay, Wilton Bay and Marr Bay. Two were seen in the daytime in Washington Strait, 

 but although a sharp look-out was kept not a single bird was seen to the westward. 

 No nests were found anywhere but on Laurie Island. 



The Scotia Expedition found a nest in Uruguay Cove, and Eagle Clarke states that 

 on December 5 it contained a deeply incubated egg and that both birds were present 

 in the nest. This date seems very early indeed, and the fact that both birds were present 



