37G PKLECANOIDID/E 



in the rocks were sometimes used for nesting; places, l)at many liirds were found sittinji under 

 low bushes and underf^rowtli. On a member of the party lifting the side of a spreading bush, 

 he found three Fairy Prions and one Diving Petrel (Pclccaiwidcs nrinatyix ) sitting close to each 

 other. The islanders designate the Fairy Petrel as the ' Whale bird.' " 



Mr. E. D. Atkinson, while resident at Table Cape, on the North-west Coast of Tasmania, 

 sent the eggs of this species, together with the following note: — "The eggs of Prion tuvtiir, 

 which I send you, were taken by Mr. G. Hensly, of Hobart, from off the Friar's Rocks, at the 

 extreme south end of South Pruni Island, on the south-east coast of Tasmania, on the loth 

 and nth of December, 1SS7. There was a colony of these birds at an elevation of about one 

 hundred feet up the side of the steep little island. 'J"he barrows were from one foot to two feet 

 long, in the soft earth, and just large enough for one to pass the hand into, and each had a 

 chamber at the end about eight inches in diameter, where the single egg laid by this bird was 

 deposited. Several were brou<,'ht alive to Hobart, identifieti, and then set at liberty." 



Of the above eggs one is a slightly lengthened oval in form, the other an ellipse, somewhat 

 compressed in the centre, the shell being close-grained, white and lustreless, and they have that 

 musty odour peculiar to eggs of the Pkochllarid.h. They Tueasure : — Length (A) rS^ x 1-28 

 inches; (B) i-8 x 1-26 inches. Three eggs taken by Messrs. J. Gabriel and G. A. Keartland, on 

 the 24th November, 1895, on North-west Island, Kent Group, Bass Strait, measure: — Length 

 (A) 1-84 X 1-32 inches; (B) 1-87 x 1-3 inches; (C) i-66 x 1-21 inches. The latter specimen is 

 the smallest egg of a large series talcen on the same date. 



\oung in down are light smoky-grey above, slightly darker on the wings, and very much 

 darker on the crown of the head ; all the under parts covered with greyish-white down. Total 

 length 6'25 inches, wing i'8, bill 0-7. 



September to December constitutes the usual breeding season on the islands in Tasmanian 

 and South Australian waters. 



Family PELECANOIDID^. 

 Pelecanoides urinatrix. 



DIVIN<^ PETREL. 



I'rucellaria nrinairi.r, Gniel., Syst. Nat., Torn. I., p. .560 (17t<8). 



J'liJ/tiiiiria Hi-ina/ri.r, Gould, I'xls. Austr., fol. Vol. VII., pi. CiO (ISIS). 



/fiilni/rciiiia urinatri.r, Gould, ibuidlik. Bds. Austr., Vol. II., p. 4S;3 (I860). 



I'r/i'CK.uuidrs iirinatrix, .Salvia., Cat. Bds. Brit. Mus., Vol. XXV., p 437 (1S9(!) ; Sharpf, Haiid-l. 

 Bds., Vol. I., p. 128 (189',)). 



Adult m.\LE. — (JeiieraJ colour ahoi'i', iiichidi nij tin', loji of iIk' In'iol, hliick, irilh a (lif^dnc/, </!oss, 

 ivliich is more prunoimcd on thi' imtiitlr an(/ ii/i/if'r har/c : inin-r fii-apiilars ir'itli ivliitis/i /i/)s, t/ifir 

 inner irebs grey ; upper ivinr/-corrr/.s like the back, quill.i brotvnish-bliick ; tiiil ylossy-broicn ; lores, sides 

 of face aiid ear-coverts sooty-black ; cheeks, sides of neck and fore-neck ashy-grey, the feathers on 

 both having indistinct ivhitish cross-bars ; remainder of the nnder surface and ander tiiil-corerls pure 

 white; loiver flanks yrey, narroioly barred and tippeil n-ith irhlte. T'otal length, (of skin) '■> itiches, 

 wing 4'85, tail VO, bill ()-7, tarsns 09'>. 



Adult femalk. — iSimilar in plainaye to tJie male. 



