1917-] Dirk Hartoy Island and Peron Peninsula. 575 



Mutton-bird obtained by rae in former years, either at 

 Point Cloates, or Breaksea and other islands off the south 

 coast of Western Australia *. 



Searching all round the bases of the cliffs, several more 

 eggs Avere found in miniature caverns with sandy floors. 

 No birds were sitting on them, as they had probably been 

 scared by the shooting and noises above, and had gone away. 

 It was much easier for any birds to fly away from their eggs, 

 than it was for those beneath the dense tangled bushes. 

 The rocky nature of the island would prevent burroAving to 

 any extent. We searched the whole of it pretty thoroughly 

 in a short space of time, owing to its small size, and saw 

 no burroAvs. The laying season had evidently only just 

 commenced, as all the eggs examined Avere quite fresh. 

 There was no nesting material Avhatever below any of the 

 eggs. From what I could learn from the residents of the 

 locality, Slope Island is the only one from which they collect 

 Mutton-birds^ eggs, although there are Lefebre Island, about 

 fifteen miles south of Slope Island, and Leschenault Island, 

 twenty-five miles south of it^ at the south end of Freycinet 

 Estuary. Heavily southerly winds prevented me from visiting 

 the last-named islands, as I had hoped to do, and as the 

 anchorage is unsafe at Slope Island, only a few hours could 

 be spent there. 



Hydroprogne caspia strenua. 



Tiie Australian Caspian Tern was not uncommon at Dirk 

 Flartog and the Peron. 



Thalasseus bergii gA/srendolenae. 



The West Australian Crested Tern was common both at 

 Dirk Hartog and the Peron. 



Sternnla nereis horni. 



Several White-faced Ternlets were seen at the large 

 mangroA^e lagoon on the Peron. 



* lu ' The Ibis ' for 1902 (p. 204) Mr. R. Hall states that tke legs and 

 feet were fleshy Avhite in examples breeding on the Iloutman Abrolhos 

 Islands, 



