FUFKINUS. 



■MYJ 



ground. It was about 7. JO p.m., and the narrow patli was followed by means of a powerful 

 lantern. /\ few liundred yards away from the house one entered a dense vegetation, formed 

 chietly of lofty Banyan trees and Thatch Palms ( Kaitia fuvslcriand ), some of the latter reachm<; 

 to si.xty or seventy feet in height. .\ few nij,'hts before at this hour the place was alive with 

 birds, and resounded with their moans and cries. We did not proceed very far, liowever, before 

 we found, with one solitary exception, the birds had not come in on that ni^ht, for they were 

 just at that time engaged in clearing out the old burrows, preparatory to breeding. The one 

 bird, secured by our leader, who grasped it firmly with his liand around the neck, and held it 

 at arm's length, immediately dischar-ed a iiuantity of fo-tid matter. To my surprise I found 

 tliat the species was I'li/Jiitin larncipcs, and not the I', tcnuimstyis it had been believed to be for 

 the previous twenty-two years. The following evening IVIr. Whiting went out by himself and 

 six birds were shot the following morning. Subsequently Mr. A. Kundy and myself paid 



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BREEDING-GROUND OF THE FLKSII-FOOTKD PRTRKL. MIDDLK BKACH, LORD HOWE ISLAND. 



another visit one evening, penetrating much farther into the scrub, until we reached a gully 

 running down from the Valley of the Shadow of Death to the beach, covered with a luxuriant 

 vegetation. Here the Banyan trees flourished, and had buttresses around the bases in 

 which it would be possible for two or more persons to effectually conceal themselves from any 

 one standing in the adjoining one, sending down shoots, now grown into small trees, and all 

 interlaced at the top with foliage. The Thatch Palms towered to a considerable height, almost 

 shutting out the daylight. Our efforts were rewarded by only seeing a single bird disappear 

 into a burrow at the base of a Palm stem, and which were numerous in the soft soil. We 

 slowly retraced our footsteps and emerged from the dark scrub into sunlight. Finding a 

 narrow path in low scrub, we soon stood on Clear Place Point, used as a look out for vessels 

 calling on the east side of the island. What a sight met our eyes as we suddenly emerged out 

 of the scrub and looked over the ocean. Petrels were flying around in hundreds about hfty to 



Vi 



