88o NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



668. PUFFINUS CARNEIPES, Gould. (637) 



FLESHY-FOOTED PETREL. 



Figure— OouXd : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 57. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 385. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Gould : Birds of Australia, Hand- 

 book, vol. ii., p. 466 (1S65); Campbell: Proc. Roy. Soc, 

 Victoria, vol. iii., new ser , p. 6 (1890). 



Geiigraphical Distrihutiun. — Seas of West Aixstralia, and probably 

 other j)arts of southern coast, inchtding Tasmania ; also New Zealand 

 and northward over the Pacific to Japan. 



Nest. — A bnrrow, usually in sandy earth, four to six, frequently eight 

 feet in length. 



Erjga. — Clutch, one ; inclined to oval in shape or tapering towards one 

 end ; texture of shell somewhat coarse ; surface minutely pitted, occar 

 sioually with limy nodules and a faint trace of gloss ; colovu-, pure white. 

 Dimensions in inches : (1) 2-69 x 1-76, (2) 2-68 x 1-8, (3) 2-56 x 1-74. 



Ohaervations. — This fine Petrel flies over Australian and New Zealand 

 seas, wandering northwai'd in the Pacific into Japanese watei's. As 

 Gould points outj it differs from the common Mutton Bird (P. tenui- 

 rostrkj in the greater length and the squarer form of its tail and in tlie 

 fleshy colour of its bill, also of its legs — hence the good vernacular name, 

 Fleshy-footed Petrel. 



Amongst other places, it resoi'ts to the small islands of South- 

 western Australia, from whence Gould procured his types of birds and 

 eggs. He most probably got them (through Gilbert) on St. Alouran 

 Islands, off Cape Leeuwin. 



I found it nesting on Breaksea Island, New Year, 1890. when I 

 secured eight eggs, mostly incubated. Brealisea is about nine miles 

 from Albany, a mile or more long, nigged, with a summit 380 feet high, 

 where stands a lighthouse and reporting station. When steaming up 

 the So'vmd and approaching the island, its gi'anite sides are seen to slope 

 in teiTible manner to the water's edge, where a heavy swell sends spray 

 far up the rocks. It is now calm. What must be the fmy of the sea 

 against these battlements in stomi ? Michaelmas Island lies near on 

 the left, like a huge, crouching lion. Behind is the mainland, where 

 patches of white, sandy beaches gleam at the foot of ^rocky hills, whose 

 grey boulders, by distance, resemble depasturing flocks amid dark vege- 

 tation. Still further is seen Cape Vancouver, with other promontories, 

 gi'ey misted by intei-vening spate, where Mount Manyi)eak reigns 

 supreme. Nearer to the right is Bald Head, na.me well suggested by 

 precipitoiLS, fluted sides of rock, but sheltered enough to leeward to let 

 the sombro-coloiu-ed foliage descend almost to liigh-water mark, with 

 here and there flat, rocky spaces, ornamented with moss and lichen. By 



