PUFFINUS. 



3G1 



PufTinus tenuirostris. 



SHOKT-TAILKD PETREL. 

 I'roceUarm tf.nuirosfris, Tenini., Text Sul>., Planch-Color. 587 (1S;{7). 

 rujfinus brerieaudns, Gould, Bds. Au.str., fol. Vol. VII., pi. 56 (I<SIS). 

 ^Vectris (ji-rvicaudus, Goald, Handbk. Bds. Austr., Vol. 11., p. 459(1805). 



Fut/iaus /m»mw<ris, Salvin, Cat. Bds. Brit. Mu.s., Vol. XXV., p. .388 (1890); Sharpe, Haud-1, 

 Bds., Vol. I., p. 1-24 (1899). 

 Adult i^JAUi. — Gt'neral colour abov duski/ or sonty-hroivn, almitsi black in. xonit' specimens : lop 

 of the he<i,<l, the apical porllons of the quills and tail feathers sooty-black : the ends of the scapulars 

 hacinq paler inner inaryins : chin, throat, and fore-neck sooty-bron-n, ivilh a greyish shade; 

 remainder of tlie under surface and under lail-corerts like the upper, hut lighter in. colour: bill dark 

 greyish -black, the tip nearly black, sides of basal portion of lower uiandUjte light grey ; legs and. feet 

 flint lleslni lavender : outer sides of tarsi and outer toe, and apic(d portion of n-ebs broumish or dusky- 

 black ; iris brownish-black. Total length in the jlesh !■', inches, wing 10-..', tail SS, bill 1-25 

 tarsus '2. 



Adui.t fkmalk. — Similar in phunage to the male. 

 "TCs^NDOUBTEDLV the Short-tailed Petrel or ' ?\Iutton-l>ird,' as it is more frequently 

 V_J called, is commoner on the islands of Bass Strait than elsewhere, and it is also very 

 numerous on some of the contiguous islands of Southern Victoria, principally on Phillip Island in 

 Western Port Ray, one of its vast breedin;,' grounds, and the outlying islands off the northern 

 coast of Tasmania, including Australian and Tasmanian waters. Of no species has more been 

 written, more especially in Victoria, as its chief breeding-place is easy of access by rail or boat 

 and only a few hours run from the metropolis. Every year, too, more attention is attracted to it, 

 especially since the introduction of nature-study into the Public and State Schools, for it would 

 be hard for a student to have a better object lesson and see and learn more of the life-history of a 

 species that has an economic value, apart from the health-giving pleasure of taking one's lesson 

 in the open, direct from the Book of Nature. E.xtended visits are also paid by some of the 

 members of different Natural History Societies in Victoria and Tasmania to Green and other 

 islands of Bass Strait, on which the nesting habits of this Petrel have been so graphically descriL:ied 

 by Mr. R. H. Davies in the second volume of the " Tasmanian Journal," and so (juoted by Gould 

 and various writers since and again, that it is my intention only to make comparatively small 

 e.Ktractsfromit; Gould wrote:— "About the commencement of September these birds congregate 

 in immense llocks, and shortly afterwards proceed at sunset to the dilTerent isles upon which 

 they have established their rookeries. Here they remain during the night for the space of about 

 ten days, forming their burrows and preparing for the ensuing laying season. They then leave 



and continue at sea for about five weeks It is not in my power to describe the scene 



that presents itself at Green Island on the night of the 24th November. A few minutes before 

 sunset flocks are seen making for the island from every quarter, and that with a rapidity hardly 

 conceivable; when they congregate together, so dense is the cloud, that night is ushered in full 

 ten minutes before the usual time. The birds continue flitting about the island for nearly an hour 

 and then settle upon it. The whole island is burrowed; and when I state that there are not 

 sufficient burrows for one-fourth of the birds to lay in, the scene of noise and confusion that 

 ensues may be immagined— I will not attempt to describe it. On the morning of the 25th the 

 male birds take their departure, returning again in the evening, and so they continue to do until 

 the end of the season. Every burrow on the island, contains, according to its size, from one to 

 three or four birds, and as many eggs; one is the general rule. . . . The young birds leave 

 the rookeries about the latter end of April and form one scattered flock in Bass's Straits ; 1 have 



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