392 SPHENISCID.E. 



Order IMPENNES. 

 Family SPHENISCID^. 



Eudyptula minor. 



LITTLE PENGUIN. 



Aplnnndytfn minor, Forst., Comm. Gottiiij,'ensis, Tom. III., p. 147 (ITf^l). 

 Spheniscus minor, Gould, Bd.s. Austr., fol. Vol. VIT., pi. It (ISIS). 



En.dyptitla minor, Gould, Handlik. Bds. Austr., Vol. IT., p. ">ls (ISi;5); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Bd.s. 

 Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVT., p. 646(lS9Sj: Sharpe Hand 1. I'.ds., Vol. I., p. 119 {IS99). 



Adult M.ALK. — All thf np/n'r p(irl!< slii/i/lilw', ftieh li'iitlo r /iin-ini/ (I hhtcki.tli sliiift and d hroiini 

 barb, tlie /tippers darki'r and diillfr in colour, its iitm'r portion broadly innri/inerl ivitli nh tty-broivii, ; 

 t.ail-f''a.lhers bluis/i-i/rfy, x'ith black shafts at Ihc base, and passiny into wliitc on Ike apical portion, as 

 are also the shafts : lop nf the load sliyhlly darker than itif i-i'imii ndrr of the upper parts ; feat/iers 

 beloiv the eye glossy ste.e.l-yrey, passing into hrownisli-yrey on. the sides of the throat aiid iieck ; chin, 

 centre of throat, ftreiieck and all t/ie finder surface ivhite : bill blackish-slate colour, basal portion 

 of imder mandible llesh-enlimr ; legs and feel ffes/iy-/rhite, soles and nads oj the latter blnc/tisJi. Total 

 length in. thejles/i IS ,'i inches, llipper .'7, tail 1, bill I'.j. 



Adult fkmalk. — Similar in plnmage to the male. 



Distribution. — Seas of New South Wales, \'ictoi'ia. South Australia, Western Australia, 

 Islands of Bass Strait, Tasmania. 



^l^jHE Little Penf:;uin is widely distributed o\er the South-eastern and Southern Australian 

 -I- and Tasmanian coasts. It chiefly frequents the adjacent islands, and to a less extent 

 also rugf;ed portions of the sea coast and the numerous bays and indentations thereof. Probably 

 it is more numerous on the smaller islands of Bass Strait, and those lying off the southern 

 portion of the continent than elsewhere. It is very common at the Nobbys on Phillip Island, 

 in Western Port Bay, Victoria, where in company with the Rev. J. U. Nicholson, of Cowes, 

 Phillip Island, I procured a great number of the eggs of this species. Mr. George Masters also 

 found it in large numbers on a small but lofty island, about live miles oil the coast from Port 

 Lincoln, in fact so numerous were these birds when descending down one of their runs from the 

 upper part of the island, just after dusk, that camp lire and billy had to be shifted out of the 

 way, so dense was the packed mass of birds being pushed onwards by others behind. Mr. Chas. 

 G. Gibson has also forwarded me a set of two eggs taken by him on Penguin Island, on the 

 2oth November, 1905, about twenty miles south of F"reemantle, Western Australia. In Eastern 

 Victoria I noted this species as being very common in and around Gabo Island, and also at 

 Twofold Bay, in Soutli-eastern New South Wales. It breeds on many islands further north, 

 principally at Montague Island, on the South Coast. Near Sydney it cannot be regarded as 

 common, although dead buds are sometimes picked up after easterly gales. Occasionally small 

 flocks may be seen inside Sydney Heads, and at the entrance to iVIiddle Harbour. Further 

 north it has been obtained at The Nobbys, near Newcastle. Mr. Henry Grant, Collector 

 to the Australian Museum, in company with Mr. A. F. B. Hull, found it breeding on 

 Cabbage Tree Island, near the entrance to Port Stephens, on the 31st October, 1910, and 

 procured adults, young in down, and immature birds with pieces of down still adhering. Dr. 

 Lonsdale Holden and Mr. E. D. Atkinson both found it breeding on various islands off the 

 south-west coast of Tasmania. 



