Vol. XVIII, 



"j Whitlock, Birds Breeding in Dampier Archipelago. 253 



again, show a strong family likeness, and all seem to haunt dense 

 cover, in which they hide their nests. There is, however, a wide 

 difference in their call-notes. This is especially marked in the case 

 of the Grasshopper-Warbler. In flight the Spinifex-Bird seems 

 much encumbered by its long, broad tail, which is not borne hori- 

 zontally, but in a semi-drooping fashion. The flight is performed in 

 a straight line, at a very low elevation, and in a feeble, fluttering 

 manner, as though the bird was anxious at the first chance to drop 

 into cover. 



Puffinus sphenurus. Wedge-tailed Petrel. — This Petrel breeds on 

 Fortescue Island, Round Island, and Double Island. The colony, 

 however, on the latter locality is a comparatively small one. 

 Fortescue Island is one of the larger islands of the Dampier Group, 

 and so numerous are the burrows there that walking is somewhat 

 painful, owing to the frequency with which the earth collapses under- 

 foot. Round Island is, on the contrary, a very small island, and 

 the overflowing Petrel population is driven to the shore, where I 

 found pairs sheltering in burrows excavated under the innumerable 

 slabs of sandstone thrown up by the heavy gales which not in- 

 frequently occur in these latitudes. I tried in vain to secure some 

 of these birds by driving them out with a long stick. They either 

 backed into some crevice, whence I could not dislodge them, or 

 escaped through the burrow having a double outlet. We anchored 

 all night near Round Island, and I had some difficulty in persuading 

 my boatman that the sounds we heard were not people calling, but 

 due to the Petrels. On Double Island, where I obtained eggs the 

 previous November, some of the burrows were not so deep, and I 

 managed to seize a pair of birds. They both bit and scratched 

 savagely, and I tried in vain to put one in my collecting bag whilst 

 I dealt with the other. I had perforce to let one bird go, as my hand 

 was streaming with blood, and I could do nothing with the pair of 

 them. 



Note. — Judged by the large series of clutches of HalicBetiis 

 leucogaster (White-bellied Sea-Eagle) and Pandion leucocephaliis 

 (White-headed Osprey) sent in by Mr. Whitlock, eggs of the 

 first-named from N.W. Australia are much rounder in shape than 

 those of the eastern bird, while I have nothing from the east so 

 highly coloured as the North-Western Pandion's eggs, some of 

 them being of most brilliant shades. The bright coloration of 

 the North- West eggs does not apply to a four-egg clutch secured 

 at Dirk Hartog Island, which locality, however, cannot be 

 termed in the North-W'est. One highly-coloured egg taken at 

 Shoal Island, Dampier Group, from a nest containing also a 

 young bird, has the ground colour a bright yellow shade, as if 

 saturated with oil. I think the addled egg had been in contact 

 with fish brought as food for the sitting bird or for the nestling. — 

 Henry L. White. Belltrccs, Scone, N.S.W., 11/3/19. 



We arc glad to state that our friend, Mr. Tom Carter, M.B.O.U., 

 has rejoined the Union. He left through some misunderstanding, 

 which the Council very much regretted ; but the matter has now 

 been cleared up satisfactorily. 



