NESTS AND EGGS OF Al'STRALIAN BIRDS. 899 



onco to dig her way into the tunnel through the obstrvictions witli 

 which it has been blocked up. She takes little notice of bystanders 

 so long as they remain still, passing leisurely by them or even over their 

 feet if they happen to be in her way. . . . Some birds had 

 no white patch imder their chin : when it was present it varied in extent 

 in different examples. In most instances it formed a small triangular 

 blotch, occupying tlie apical portion of the angle enclosed by the lower 

 mandible, but in a few cases the white was limited to one or two 

 feathers only. In none of the Kerguelen specimens did the patch 

 extend to the forehead, as it does in the birds from Australia." 



During the American expedition to the same locahty a single speci- 

 men of the Spectacled Petrel was dug out by a dog, on the 12th October, 

 from a very deep bun'ow under a clump of hei-bage, but no others were 

 observed until 15th November, when they suddenly appeared in the 

 daytime in considerable numbers. On the 16th December, Dr. Kidder 

 dug up specimens, with eggs, and frequently thereafter. The birds 

 nested in very deep biUTows, with almost always a little pool of water 

 at their entrance, and kept up an incessant squealing while the dog was 

 digging for them, very like the sound of a water-whistle toy. They 

 fought the dog more bravely than other Petrels, generally coming out 

 of the burrow hanging to his ear, and keeping him off very successfully 

 in the open. 



Diu-ing Mr. Hans Gimderscn's oiling visit to Kerguelen, Mr. Robert 

 Hall found most of tlie eggs of the Spectacled Petrel much incubated 

 by the end of January (1898), while some nests contained young. 

 Nevertheless, a few fresh eggs were seciu'ed early in February. 



676. — Majaqueus PAnKiKS:!Ni, Gray. 

 BLACK PETREL. 



Figure. — Cat. Birds Brit, Mus., vol. xxv., pi. s- 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 39;. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — Huttnn : Trans. New Zealand Inst., 

 vol. iii., p. Ill (1871) ; Buller : Birds of New Zealand (1873), 

 also vol. ii., p. 244 (188S) ; Reischek : Trans. New Zealand 

 Tn=t., vol. xviii., p. 87 (18S5). 



Gerigrajihicnl Di^frihiifion. — Seas of New South Wales, Victoria 

 (probably), and Tasmania ; also New Zealand. 



Nest. — A biuTow, sometimes in loose soil and other times under 

 roots of trees or under stones, on islands and in mountains inland in 

 certain parts of the North Island of New Zealand. 



Eggx. — Clutch, one ; broad oval in shape ; texture of shell coarse ; 

 surface glossy; colour, pure white. Dimensions in inches: 2-83 x 1-97; 

 according to Buller : 2-7 x 20. 



