984 



.A/ESTS AND EGGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



that month. They were kmdly collected for me by Captain Anderson 

 and Mr. J, Kell}% who were in the steamer, " Lady Loch," in search 

 of tidings of the missing vessel, " May Jermings.'' It would, however, 

 be interesting to be able to recoi'd when the young are fully feathered 

 and leave — possibly March or April, when the Mutton Birds commence 

 to move. 



Besides Babel Island, another large Gannet rookery is stated to 

 exist on the Black Pyramid, on the opposite side of Bass Strait; that 

 island was seen at a distance and reported to be " white with birds '' by 

 the naturalists who' visited Albatross Island. 



Captain Fermaner, a well-known colonist of the olden days, told 

 me that Gannets used to lay on a rock off Portland Bay early in 

 September. I had specimens of eggs from that loc^ility, 1870. 



In his " History of the Birds of New Zealand," Su- Walter Bidler 

 gives an exceedingly popular chapter on the Australian Gannet. In 

 one instance Sir Walter quotes from Captain Fairchild, who states : 

 " The habits of the Gannet are so veiy strange that it may interest you 

 if I give tlie results of my own experience with these birds. So far 

 as I am aware, their only breeding 2>laces off the coast of New Zealand 

 are on Gannet Island, lying to the east, on some small islands in the 

 Haui'aki Gulf, near Coromandel, and near to the Great Barrier, and 

 on White Island, in the Bay of Plenty. At all these places the birds 

 congregate in gi-eat numbers. Tliey commence laying about the 18tli 

 September, and it takes about thirty-tlu-ee days to hatch out the young. 

 The female lays two eggs ; she keeps one, the male taking charge of 

 the other, and each one hatches its ovra and afterwards looks after the 

 wants of the young one. About the 1st Februaiy the same thing is 

 repeated. The second hatching takes place about the fii-st week in 

 March. I hardly think that there can possibly be any mistake in this, 

 as I have carefully watched the habits of these birds dui'ing the last 

 twenty years, whenever an opportunity offered." 



This is certainly a most interesting statement, and with twenty 

 years' experience at his back, one can hardly doubt Captixin Fairchild. 

 But I venture to assert that it needs yet to be proved that the female 

 Gannet lays two eggs, the male hatching one, and that a second laying 

 takes place in Febi-uary. Were a second laying to take place, I fancy 

 Gannets would be far more numerous than they are. 



From my own observations of the Gannet rookei-y on Cat Island, 

 which, however. I had only two brief opportunities of examining, I saw no 

 eggs in unprotected nests, which certainly would liave been the case 

 had one or the other bird been absent on a fishing cniise, feeding ; of 

 c;ourse, that is presuming both male and female h;id an egg to tend. 

 What about Gulls and other enemies hovering round foi- unguarded 

 eggs? Moreover, birds were continually coming in from the sea to 

 feed their brooding mates or young. The meetings were strikingly 

 affectionate, the birds kissing and caressing (bird fa.shion) in a most 

 loving manner, and appearing concerned in only one home. 



With regard to the second laying mentioned by Capt<iin Fairchild, 

 it is quite possible to find fresh eggs of the late laying birds at the 

 beginning of February without there being a second brood, and that the 



