Habits of the Mutton-bird. 211 



I have heard of no egg being taken before Nov. 18th. If 

 the egg is taken there is good reason to believe that no 

 other is laid ; but the birds, being very gregarious, return to 

 sleep on the rookery, although they may have no young to 

 tend. The Government permits consumption of the eggs on 

 the island, but none are to be exported. As a matter of 

 fact, the eggs are not fit to take after they have been laid 

 three days. During the period of incubation the parents 

 take it in turns to sit, exchanging positions after about a 

 week. The young birds appear about Jan. 15th, and for a 

 fortnight or so they are in danger from the snakes, which 

 swarm on some islands, such as Chappell Island and Babel, 

 and are entirely absent from others, such as Little Dog 

 Island. The eggs, howevei', are safe, for the old birds can 

 easily defend themselves when sitting. " Birders " say that 

 birds and snakes are not found in the same hole; but if a 

 man seizes a snake in place of a bird he must pull it out, 

 for to relax his grip is to court danger. There are always 

 signs if there is a bird in a hole, for the parents carefully 

 clean out the passage before they depart for the day and stuff 

 the entrance with dry rookery-grass. In March the feathers 

 of the young begin to grow ; before this they are fat, downy 

 ci'eatures. By Act of Parliament '^birding^' commences 

 in Tasmanian lands on March 20tli, and continues till the 

 surviving birds fly away about the beginning of May. When 

 the young Petrels are fully feathered the parent birds desert 

 them altogether and dej)art seaward, the result being that 

 the new generation is driven from the holes by hunger, and, 

 without assistance from the old ones, they have to find their 

 way to the water and to learn to fly and feed. All their 

 travelling is done by night, for fear of their enemies (the 

 large Gulls) ; but even so a great many are killed upon the 

 water or upon the shore when too weak or inexperienced to 

 escape. Still, in spite of the efforts of man and of winged 

 bipeds, the sea is black with young birds in May, and fully 

 one third of the young Petrels survive. 



Let us now imagine ourselves standing on a rookery in 

 the evening awaiting the arrival of the old birds as the sun 



