240 Whitlock, Birds Breeding in Dampier Archipelago. [,sf'A"rii 



Notes on Birds Breeding in Dampier Archipelago, 

 N.W. Coast of Australia. 



By F. Lawson Whitlock, " Chiltern," Tudor, via Albany 



(W.A.) 



The Dampier Archipelago extends along our north-west coast 

 for a distance of about 200 miles. In travelling north the first 

 islands are met with before reaching Ashburton Roads, and the 

 last (Depuch Island) at Balla Balla Anchorage, about 30 miles 

 north-east of Point Samson. 



Viewed from the deck of a steamboat, the islands present a very 

 unattractive appearance. As a rule, they appear much the 

 same — long, low, treeless islands, utterly barren were it not for 

 a low scrub just discernible with the aid of a field-glass. To the 

 field ornithologist, however, they suggest possibilities of breeding 

 Petrels, Gulls, Terns, and the larger birds of prey, with the chance, 

 on the larger islands, of isolated families of land-birds, differing 

 in plumage from kindred families on the mainland, and specially 

 interesting on that account. 



The majority of the larger islands are too near the coast to 

 promise much in this respect, but in the case of Barrow Island, 

 the largest of the group and over 30 miles distant from the main- 

 land, and still more so in the further isolated Montebello Group, 

 one may look with confidence to the discovery of interesting 

 islands forms and varieties. 



Geologically speaking, all the islands have at no very distant 

 date formed part of the mainland, and the surrounding seas are 

 for the most part shallow. 



I have previously written a brief account of my former visit 

 to Barrow Island (see Emu, xvii., pp. 171-179). This was 

 accompanied by a map copied from an almost illegible Admiralty 

 chart. I regret to say, from observations made during the 

 present trip, I find the chart unrehable. I refer chiefly to the 

 long axis of the island, which is shown on the chart to be almost 

 north and south. I had a good boat's compass on the cutter, 

 and often took an observation about mid-day to confirm our time 

 by clock ; also, I usually saw the sun rise and again set, and when 

 camping out noted the positions of the early morning con- 

 stellations. My observations point to the fact that the long 

 axis of Barrow Island approximates much nearer to east and 

 west than to north and south. Again, the neighbouring Double 

 Island has a long axis running almost at right angles to the true 

 axis of Barrow Island, and not parallel to the latter, as shown in 

 the chart. Furthermore, a large island immediately adjoining 

 Double Island is not shown in the chart at all. At the eastern 

 end of this island is a huge rocky islet, rising to a height of about 

 200 feet — a most conspicuous landmark. This, too, is not 

 marked on the chart — an unfortunate omission, in an ornith- 

 ological sense, as it is the home of a small colony of Caspian Terns 



