nio NESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



JS^est. — A hollow scooped in the ground, containing a few stems of 

 grass, or constructed of gi-ass, moss, and earth- separate or in small 

 rookeries on the open grovuid of hills on desolate islands of the .south. 



Eggs. — Clutch, one ; inclined to an elUpse in form ; textiu"e of shell 

 exceedingly coarse and granulated ; sui'face rough, in some instances 

 with lini}' nodules, and glossless ; colour, dull or dirty white. Dimensions 

 in inches : (1) 4-02 x 2-6, (2) 3-97 x 2-62. 



Observations. — Tliis great Petrel in size and colour resembles the 

 Sooty Albatross, and also sweeps the Southern Ocean, including, of 

 course, Australian seas up to about latitude 30 deg. south. Its flight 

 is not so graceful and buoyant as the Albati'osses'. 



It is the " Nelly " or " Stink-pot " of the whalers, and is a vora- 

 cious creature, hovering over sealers when engaged cutting up seals, 

 and devomnng the carcase the moment it is left. It also readily kills 

 other sea-birds — Prions, GullSj &c. 



Occasionally there are albinos ; one followed the vessel Gould was 

 in for three weeks, between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania. 



A note, brief, but to the point, from Mr. G. Beddoes, Abrolhos 

 Islands, off Western Australia, states : " Big Black Petrels are about 

 every winter. They are clumsy birds, and so tame or tired when they 

 reach us that we can go out in a boat and catch them. They are nearly 

 as large as an Albatross and smell worse than twenty of them." 



According to Professor F. W. Hutton, C.M.Z.S., the Giant Petrel 

 breeds on the cliffs of Prince Edward Islands and Kerguclon's Land, 

 where its nests can be got at occasionally. The young are first covered 

 with a beautiful long light-gi-cyish down ; when fledged they are dark- 

 brown, mottled with white. When a person approaches a nest the old 

 birds keep a short distance away, while the young ones squirt a horribly 

 smelUng oil out of their mouths to a distance of six or eight feet. In 

 addition to Kerguelen, Captain Cook found the Giant Petrels very 

 abundant on Christmas Island, where, dviring the breeding season, his 

 sailors knocked the birds down with sticks. Falkland Islands are said 

 to be another breeding place of the Giant Petrel. 



This bird is also found at Gough Island and South Georgia. In 

 Mr. Verrill's article, Mr. George Comer writes : " The ' Nellies ' are the 

 same at all the islands. These birds are grey, though when young they 

 are almost black. As they grow older they become lighter, and once 

 in a gi'eat while one will be seen pure white, which is, by whalers 

 considered a sure sign of a storm. They lay separately in open land or 

 knolls. The nests are low and built of grass and moss. Tlicy commence 

 laying (at Gough Island) the middle of September. They lay one egg, 

 which is usually quite rough, but, if robbed, will lav a second or a third 

 time. These birds leave their nests when you approach them, while 

 the other birds do not. Thev will go into the Penguin rookeries and 

 caiTy off the young Penguins to eat, and will also reach in and pull 

 birds (Petrels) out of the holes in the ground." 



Coming to Kerguelen, and toiiching the Giant Petrel, the Rev. 

 A. E. Eaton wrote : " The breeding places of the Giant Petrel in Royal 



