NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. goy 



being lowered, 1 eudeavourcd to capture the bird wth a hook and hue ; 

 and the ordinaiy sea.-liooks being too lai'gc for the puipose, I was in 

 the act of selecting one from my stock of salmon-flies, when a sudden 

 gust of wind blew my hooks and a piece of parchment ten inches long 

 by six inches wide, between which they were placed, overboard into the 

 sea, and I was obliged to give up the attempt for that day. On the 

 next I succeeded in capturing a bird with a hook I had still left, and 

 the reader may judge of my surprise when ou opening the stomach 

 I there found the piece of parchment, softened by the action of the 

 salt water and the animal juices to which it had been subjected, but so 

 completely uninjured that it was dried and again restored to its original 

 use when a further supph' of flies could be procured. 



An egg of the Soft-plumaged Petrel in my collection was taken on 

 Mount Moa, New Caledonia, and was kindly forwarded to me by 

 Mr. E. L. Layard, then Biitish Consul at that island. 



680. tEsTKELATA SOLANDRl, Gould. (629) 



BROWN-HEADED PETREL. 



Rejerence. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 410. 



Geographical Disfrihutiun. — Seas of South Queensland, New South 

 Wales, Victoria, South and West AustraHa, and Tasmania. 



Nest and Egc/is. — Undescribed. 



Observations. — The Brown-headed, or Solander, Petrel has been 

 recorded for all Au-tralian seas except north and north-west. However, 

 most probably it is found off the latter coast. 



Gould procured his type in Bass Strait, 13th March, 1839. So long 

 ago ! yet nothing is known of its breeding quarters. When they are 

 discovered, they may prove to be high land of some verdure-clad island 

 of the wai-m Pacific, and not the usual Petrel abode — a bleak island of 

 the south. 



681. CESTRELATA LEUCOPTERA, Gould. (632) 



WHITE-WINGED PETREL. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, foL, vol. vii., pi. 51, 

 Referenci. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 416. 



Geoffraphica/ Distribution. — Seas of South Queensland, New South 

 Wales, Victoria, South and West Australia, and Tasmania. Some 

 authorities give east coast only of Australia. 



