206 Reviews. [JlU 



name is furnished in brackets. A succinct description of each 

 bird is given in technical as well as /6'/>?^/^?r language ; indeed, 

 the bulk of the observations is written in a free and popular 

 style, and will meet with the approval of Australians who lean 

 more to the field side of than cabinet ornithology. Descriptions 

 of nesting places and eggs are also given. 



Here is a note concerning the Wilson or Yellow-webbed 

 Storm-Petrel {Oceanites oceanicus), which is probably the most 

 southerly breeder of any known Australian bird : — "At Cape 

 Adare, in South Victoria Land, Dr. Wilson perceived some of 

 these Storm-Petrels hovering round the mouth of crevices in the 

 rocky side of the cliff, often settling close by for a few seconds, 

 and then sailing in short circles round it, reminding him strongly 

 of the movements of a House-Martin at its nest under the eaves 

 of a country barn. He adds the following interesting note : — 

 ' Two of these crevices could not be reached, but soon we saw a 

 bird hover round and settle upon a large boulder. Hunting about 

 for a burrow underneath, we caught the sound of twittering, and 

 traced it to a kind of mouse-like hole. This, by dint of long and 

 tedious picking with a sheath-knife, we enlarged till it admitted 

 an arm up to the shoulder. The work was laborious, as the 

 floor of the burrow was hard black ice and grit, but eventually 

 we reached the nest. At the end of the little tunnel was a 

 chamber containing a very comfortable nest thickly lined with 

 Addlie Penguins' feathers, and in it a somewhat remarkable 

 collection. First we brought out an adult male alive, then an 

 adult female, then two eggs, one clean and newly laid, the other 

 old and rotten, and under all another dead and flattened 

 adult Oceanites. Outside, as we worked, a fourth bird was 

 hovering, which when shot proved to be an adult male. It has 

 been long known that with this species the nesting burrow has 

 been often used by more than a single pair.' " 



No nesting locality of the WHiite-breasted Storm-Petrel 

 ( Cyfuodroma grallaria) has yet been discovered. This is some- 

 what remarkable, seeing that so many far southern exploring 

 expeditions have been undertaken during recent years, and 

 points to the suggestion made by some sound authorities that this 

 bird is merely a stage or phase of plumage of the Black-bellied 

 Storm-Petrel (C. inela?iogaster). 



The coloured plates are Mr. J. G. Keulemans' best, but the 

 poses of some of the figures will hardly satisfy the field observer, 

 who usually sees a Petrel on shore in a reclining position, or 

 waddling awkwardly over the ground. In a few of the plates of 

 the Storm-Petrels the figures are on straight legs. Dottrel-like, 

 — quite an unnatural pose, except in action when taking wing. 

 Better had these exceptions been depicted as is aptly described 

 in the letterpress — " The little Petrel delicately treading the 

 water to steady itself a moment, while it picks up a tinv morsel " 

 (Wilson). 



