28 Swindells, Rookeries of the Whi/e-byeas/ed Cormorant, [ij,/*'"}"!.. 



Rookeries of the White-breasted Cormorant 

 (Phalacrocorax gouldij. 



By a. \V. Swindells, R.A.O.U., Hobart (Tas.) 



The White -breasted Cormorant {Phalacrocorax goiddi) is found 

 throughout Tasmania, and is the least wary and the most 

 numerous ol the Cormorants. Perched on the piles and jetties 

 along our tidal rivers, and approaching even to the wharves of 

 the towns, these birds soon become familiar objects to the eye. 

 Along the entire length of our rocky coast-line, and on every 

 isolated rock and islet, they may be seen in numbers. 



Probably nowhere around Tasmania, excepting on islands in 

 Bass Strait, are there to be found such extensive rookeries of P. 

 goiddi as exist at Cape Frederick Henry, North Bruni Island. 

 From time immemorial the Cape has been the stronghold of these 

 fine birds, great numbers annually congregating to breed on its 

 rocky cUffs. Many years ago, in the very early days of Bruni 

 Island settlement, the birds nested high above the cUffs on the 

 steep slopes of the hill, among the hard grass and short herbage ; 

 then access to the rookeries was a very simple matter. As the 

 island gradually became selected and visits of man more frequent, 

 the birds each year chose their nesting-sites lower down the 

 slopes until, finally, their permanent quarters were taken up on 

 almost inaccessible portions of the cliffs. 



Of several other rookeries of the White-breasted Cormorants, 

 the most noteworthy are those on Breaksea Island, at the entrance 

 to Port Davey, on the storm-beaten West Coast ; on the cliffs 

 near the lighthouse, South Bruni ; and on the terminal rocks of a 

 reef running out from Great Actason Island, at the southern 

 entrance to D'Entrecasteaux Channel. On the East Coast, on 

 the dangerous and crumbling cliffs near Eaglehawk Neck, and 

 on the White Rock, situate midway between Maria and Schouten 

 Islands, similar nurseries flourish. At the last-named place the 

 birds were found breeding in the autumn of 1907, young and eggs 

 being taken early in May. Occasionally a few pairs of birds will 

 seek to establish themselves on some isolated rock in one or other 

 of our bays, or on some rocky portions of the shore ; but, as they are 

 persistently harassed by " pot-hunters" and folk residing near, such 

 sites are soon abandoned, and only on secure headlands and 

 little-frequented isles and rocks are their permanent homes to be 

 found. At one time a small rookery existed on Blanche Rock, 

 off Southport Island. The latest evidence, so far as can be 

 gathered, of the birds breeding there is furnished by Col. Legge, 

 who. in 1886, when on a visit to Actt'eon Island, saw that the birds 

 were nesting, but was unable to land owing to the high seas 

 running. 



I visited Blanche Rock on the 15th November. 1907, but the 

 only bird found nesting there was a Pacific Gull {Gabianus 

 pacificus). Parts of Cormorants' old nests, thickly encrusted with 

 guano, still remained in some of the hollows and crannies of the 



