CESTRELATA. 



373 



tr/iir/i (III till iiiiti'r pritiiiirifK is again niihiiinriji'iiallij hiinlii-td iriOi a iiarroii' ihiakij.hroii'ii liaml : 

 lorp.a and nii/i's of face ivhitish, tlt,e featherts on /he firi'hi'rv/ aiid Ki(/es of tlte neck and fore-neck centred 

 or xjiotti'd or trashed with blackish--grey ; remainder of the under surface and binder lail-coverts pure 

 ?v/ilte, irif/i i/reijish-white on the sides of tlie fore-neck ; a.cillarie^i and outer nnder n-iny-coiv,r!s pure 

 ii'/ii/e ,■ n.jifier tail-cocerts slati/iirey : tail slati/grei/, hlackish, tox'anis the tips of the central feathers, 

 and haviufi blackish shafts, the louy outer feathers on either side ivhite on, their inner webs, which is 

 finely freckled with grey, and hacing a small dark grey spot near the tip. Total length 12-75 inches, 

 icing S-7, central tail-feathers .17, lateral tnil-fealhers ■! .', bill 1, farsiifi IJ.'i. 



Adui.'I' FUMAMv — Siiniliir in pi innoge to the male. 



Disti'ihnlion. — Coast of New South Wales, Tasmaii Sea. 

 gF-F for no other reason, the name of ttie late Mr. John Gould would for all time have been 

 J remembered and associated with the Birds of Australia for the remarkably good work he 

 did in the (.)rder Tubinares alone. Possessed with an extraordinary acumen, he was given 

 to detect the slightest difference in a specimen under examination, although he figured this 

 species in his folio edition of the "Birds of Australia" under the name of Fivccllnriti looki, of 

 G. R. Gray. Subsequently Gould described it in the " Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 of London," in iS_|.4, under the name of Procellavia laicoptcra. W'riting of this species in his 

 "Handbook," he remarks:— "I feel assured that this bird is different from the ProccUaria 

 coold of Mr. G. K. Gray. On comparing the specimens of both, now before me, I iind 

 that my bird, which was obtained while breeding on Cabbage Tree Island, at the mouth of 

 Port Stephen's Harbour, has a shorter and much stouter bill, a much darker head, neck and 

 upper surface, and a uniform coloured tail, whereas Mr. Gray's P. coohi has the inner webs of the 



outer tail-feathers semi-white The Australian seas abound with Petrels, the investigation 



of the various species of which, their habits and economy, as well as their places of abode, will 

 serve to occupy the attention of ornithologists for years to come. It could scarcely be expected 

 that a single voyage to Australia could add much to our knowledge of the subject ; my readers 

 must, therefore, be contented with little more than an illustration. . . . I have been informed that 

 this species breeds in abundance on one of the small islands near the mouth of the harbour of 

 Port Stephens, in New South Wales, where my specimens were procured. I frequently saw it 

 during my passage from Sydney to Cape Horn, but it was most numerous between the coast of 

 Australia and the northern part of New Zealand." 



Mr. Thos. P. Austin wrote me as follows from Cobborah Station, Cobbora, New South 

 Wales, under date 14th January, igii :— " Specimens of CEstrclahi Icncoptcia were described by 

 Gnuld many years ago from Cabbage Tree Island, at the mouth of Port Stephens, which were 

 obtained while breeding. Mr. A. F. B. Hull and others paid several visits to this island towards 

 the end of 1910, in hopes of finding the birds laying. It was not, however, till the 4th December, 

 1910, when Mr. A. F. B. Hull, Mr. William Hull and myself visited this island that the 

 eggs were first found. (Jn the west side two steep gullies run from top to bottom; these two 

 gullies, although practically invisible from the water's edge, can be traced from the main- 

 land, two miles away, by the brown foliage of the Cabbage Tree Palm, which grows only 

 here, and these two narrow strips are the nesting-places of the White-winged Petrel. Having 

 arrived at Nelson's Bay by steamer about 4 a.m., it was not long before we were on 

 board a tine little motor launch on our way to the island. Being a fine morning there was no 

 difiiculty m landing. After examining a few nesting burrows of Puffimis cMoi'orhynchus and 

 Emhpttila iiiinoi; we made our way amongst the Cabbage Tree Palms, and here beneath the 

 fallen leaves, or rather fronds, of these palms, amongst rocks were dozens of these beautiful 

 little Petrels sitting upon their single egg. In most cases the nests were from one to two feet 

 down under an accumulation of fallen fronds, and owing to the thorns it was no easy matter 

 removing this tangled mass ; in other instances the sitting birds could be seen as we worked 



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