204 Mr. 11. Hall on Birds 



Eggs were ft)uiirl on Soutli Island, Pelsart Group, 26.10.99, 

 fresh and much incubated. The male was observed to be 

 sitting in the daytime. In the course of an hour I was able 

 to roughly examine from six to nine nests, and accomplished 

 the excavation in the loose sand, bound with fibrous vegeta- 

 tion, by hand alone. Many birds were in the hollows, 

 apparently not specially engaged, but keeping apart from 

 their mates w^hile sitting upon the eggs. This is not usual. 



69. PuFFiNus cHLORORHYNCHus. Wcdge-tailed Petrel. 

 (Hall's Key, p. 92.) 



From the West Wallabi Island of the Houtman's I pro- 

 cured, in a burrow, a male specimen, in order to ascertain 

 the author of the moaning calls that came from the holes in 

 the daylight. These were quite new to my ears, and did not 

 resemble those of any Petrel in the other large '' rookeries " 

 which I have been fortunate enough to visit. During the 

 night these calls would prove quite distressing to a person 

 not knowing the source. My first acquaintance with them 

 was in the daylight, and I felt impelled to make a kind 

 of response, because I thought that some creature was in 

 distress. At first- I could only refer the noise to the cats 

 which are wild in the adjacent group. Lying at anchor that 

 calm night I was considerably impressed by what a super- 

 stitious person would, certainly have called the feeling that 

 an " island ''' was in distress and moaning in its troubles: 

 circumstances altogether too dismal for an optimist to be 

 within hearing of. My mind was, however, bent upon hard 

 facts, and for the moment was unemotional. 



Although my specimen agrees with the measurements noted 

 by Salvin, the colour of the bill does not correspond with 

 the specific nomenclature, because it is slate-coloured with the 

 tip (nail) black ; the feet are fleshy white. 



You))g "Mutton-birds'' are very pugnacious, for if two 

 are placed in the same box overnight, one will be found 

 dead in the morning. This surely comes of being '' brought 

 up " alone in a burrow. The statement applies also to other 

 species of Petrels. 



