210 The Kt. Rev. H. H. Moutgomery un the 



wlien the population in these islands shall have increased so 



much that fresh legislation may have to be initiated^ but 



that day has not yet arrived. There are also numerous 



islands near the Victorian coast at present absolutely unvisited, 



swarming with these birds. The absence of boat-harbours, 



and as well as of fresh water and wood, protects these summer 



visitors from depredators. The following facts may be taken 



as accurate ; there is certainly no difference of opinion about 



them among the people who have spent their lives in these 



islands : — The Mutton-bird [Piiffinus tenuirostris) appears 



with the greatest regularity about Sept. 17tli in these waters, 



having come apparently from the direction of the South Pole ; 



for, after inquiry of the captains of ships, I can discover no 



one who has met with them between May and September, 



although their numbers at other times can be computed only 



by millions. The obvious difficulty is that the season when 



they disappear is midwinter. It is also noteworthy that the 



whole period from Sept. 17th till the beginning of May is 



taken up with the rearing of their young. When they appear 



in September they are believed to have paired already, and 



they commence at once to scratch out their holes, the process 



lasting, with intervals, for six weeks. One bird is seen to be 



at work at a time, and always in the night. In the daytime 



they depart seaward. Indeed, so persistent is their desertion 



of the breeding-places by day that it would be quite possible 



for unobservant persons to live on these islands and to be 



unaware that the Petrels breed there at all, except perhaps 



at the season when the young birds take to the water. It is 



almost true to say that I never saw a Petrel in the daytime 



near their rookeries during the eight years that I have been 



visiting them. The universal belief is that these birds dare 



not alight on the ground in daylight because of the Gulls 



and Crows, for the length of their wings makes them unable 



to fly off flat ground. The Petrels depart about Nov. 1st, 



and are only seen occasionally till Nov. 20th, when they 



return in tens of thousands to lay their eggs, one for each 



pair, and they are laid almost on the same night in each 



locality. Islands differ, some being earlier than others, but 



