Birds 0/ Kerguelen Island. 19 



rights, and snapped its bill in the manner of the adult, but 

 feebly. A Cormorant's fresh egg, partly broken, was near, 

 so the little gallant lived well in the start of its career, and 

 disgorged enough food in a mass to give a meal to half a 

 dozen ordinary birds. The general hue of the nestling was 

 slate-colour; the bill slate-black; legs bluish; iris faint 

 hazel, and pupil blue. The ring of white had begun to 

 show round the eye. The nests were neat, saucer-like, and 

 of fine fibrous loam, caked. The dimensions were : — breadth 

 17 inches, diameter of cavity 12 inches, depth of cavity 

 3 inches, depth of structure about 4 inches. 



These observations were made on January 5th. I was not 

 able to I'ecognize Prof. Button's subspecies P. /. cornicoides 

 (Ibis, 1867, p. 186) in these sitting birds, although, later on, 

 I observed some on the wing that appeared to be greyer 

 on the back and abdomen. At sea, some 300 miles east 

 of Kerguelen, I noticed (February 20ih) many specimens 

 with the nape of the neck white, and I think these were 

 immature birds. 



OcEANiTES ocEANicus (Kulil) ; Salviu, Cat. B. xxv. p. 358. 



The yellow-webbed Wilson's Petrel is a delicate creature 

 that goes straight to sea in the early morning, and comes 

 back to the rocks in the gloaming. Most of my time was 

 spent among the stones below 1000 feet, where this Petrel is 

 to be found in great numbers by diligent search. At 1500 feet 

 (Thumb Peak) one flew from the boulders in the daytime, 

 which showed that a nest was there. Having returned from 

 the sea into the harbours at dusk (8 p.m.), Wilson's Petrel 

 is then to be seen, flying to and fro before a ridge of rough- 

 looking rocks. At 6 p.m. I observed (February 2nd) a 

 gathering of from 50 to 60 birds ofi" the South Head of 

 Greenland Harbour. Generally they are unassociated until 

 they come in towards night. They are seldom to be seen 

 on land in the daytime, and I only once noticed a bird flying 

 up and down a part of a valley of stones, more than a mile 

 from the sea, and a creek, which led from this highland, had 

 encouraged the bird to go there. It reminded me of a Martin 



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