574 Mr. T. Ccarter 07i the Birds of [Ibis, 



round it, and has little vegetation except a few stunted 

 bushes that grow only close to the sea, and bear yellow 

 saltish berries as large as a small gooseberry, which the 

 aborigines call "Tiilbyne.'^ These bushes grow in large 

 and dense masses, and being kept down in height by the 

 prevalent strong winds, are so rigid as to allow one to walk 

 about on their upper surfaces. The ground beneath these 

 bushes was mostly rock, but there were small patches o£ 

 sand bere and there, and on these, below the bushes, many 

 Western Wedge-tailed Petrels were sitting on their single 

 eggs. We had been told at Denham that it was a common 

 practice for the men in passing pearling boats to call at this 

 island to obtain "■ Mutton-birds' " eggs at the breeding- 

 season — November to Christmas. The writer expected to 

 find the eggs laid in deep burrows, as is customary with 

 so-called Mutton-birds, and had taken a hooked stick with 

 which to rake out any eggs, but this was not required. Our 

 attention was first attracted by the extraordinary noises that 

 the birds made, and which resembled the whining and bark- 

 ing of several puppies. Peering down through the bushes, 

 as we lay full length on them, we could see several of the 

 Petrels shuffling about below us, but out of arm's reach. 

 Most of the birds were covering and protecting an. egg, and 

 seemed to move about, to some extent, keeping the eggs 

 hidden beneath them. They were most devoted to them, 

 and could not be persuaded to abandon them, as of course 

 specimens were required for identification and comparison 

 with those of other species. Not being able to reach a 

 bird or an egg, Mr. Edwards got excited, and, before I 

 could prevent him, shot one of the birds with my "410 gun, 

 at a range of a few feet, and succeeded in badly smashing 

 one of its wings, but a passably good skin was made of it 

 afterwards. Several of the birds were eventually captured 

 alive with our hands. They bit and scratched very severely, 

 and constantly uttered their peculiar noises. 



The legs and feet of the birds were bright carmine in 

 colour, and quite unlike those of any other species of 



