NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 8/1 



662. G.u:i!iii)iA NKREis, Goiild. — (645) 

 GREY-BACKED STORM PETREL. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 64. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 361. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Kidder and Coues : Smithsonian 

 Miscell. Coll., vol. xiii., Art3 (1878); Bnller : Birds of New 

 Zealand, vol. n., p. 247 (1888). 



Geographical Distribution. — -Seas of South Queensland, New South 

 Wales, Victoria, Soutli and West Austraha and Ta.smaiiia ; also 'New 

 Zealand and the Southern Ocean in general. 



A^est. — A buiTow, resembling a rat hole, about 1^ feet in length 

 (Seymoiu-) ; or under a tuft of grass or other herbage near the sea. 

 Sometimes the bird digs a small btuTow, of teuer the egg is simply covered 

 by overhanging grass stems, in low laud (Kidder and Coues). 



Eygs. — Clutch, one; elliptical in shape; textm-e of shell compara- 

 tively fine ; siu-face minutely pitted and sometimes slightlv glossy ; colom', 

 white, with a finely freckled patch of brown and faint pur[)Iisli-brown 

 on or round the ape.K. Dimensions in inches: (1) 1-4 x 1-0, 

 (2) 1-39 X 1-07. 



Observations. — The habitat of the little Grey-backed Storm Petrel, 

 so far as is known, is limited to the Southern Ocean, and, of course, 

 occurring in Australian and New Zealand sea.s. 



Diu'ing a calm in the passage of Gould from Hobart to Sydney, May, 

 1839, he obtained his first (four) examples of this little ocean wanderer. 

 That great ornithologist enthusiastically writes : " The Procellaria 

 nereis is a species readily distinguishable from its congeners by the total 

 absence of any white mark on the rump, the want of which first drew my 

 attention and induced me to suspect it, as it subsequently proved to be, 

 a different species from any I had before seen ; my readers will therefore 

 easily imagine with what pleasiu'e I descended the ship's side and sallied 

 forth in a little ' dingy ' to procure specimens. Tliis is not the only 

 instance in which science has been benefited through the kindness of the 

 captains I have sailed with, in allowing me the use of a boat whenever 

 the weather permitted such a favoiu' to be granted me without retarding 

 the progress of the ship. Nearly thirty species of oceanic birds were 

 obtained in this way during my voyage to Australia ; whence some idea 

 may bo formed of the nimibers encoimtered in the open sea, and of the 

 employment the natm-alist may find during a voyage round the globe." 



The eggs of this Stormy Petrel I described in 1883 were referable 

 10 the White-faced variety. However, authenticated eggs of the rarer 

 Grey-backed bird I received from Mr. J. Percy Seymour, who collected 

 them on Tomahawk Island, Otago Peninsula, New Zealand ; they were 

 dated 20th November, 1886. I have mislaid my data of them ; but 



