Q2 Swindells, Rookeries of the Whitc-hreasted Cormorant. \^J'"\^\ , 



reach them. It was agreed that one of us should remain at the 

 summit of the chff to manipulate the rope, while the other essayed 

 the descent. So my friend decided to take charge of the rope 

 while I went down. After a trying time I reached the nests, 

 and, ha\ang collected eggs, I turned to make observations, and 

 was enraptured at the spectacle revealed. Lower down the face 

 of the cliff, and hidden from an observer above on account of the 

 slightly overhanging nature of the rocks, was a rookery, between 

 40 and 50 nests, on a shelf a foot or two in width. The birds 

 rose simultaneously, disclosing their eggs. With no thought of 

 how the return trip was to be accomplished, the rope was lowered, 

 and I gained the ledge. The greatest care was necessary when 

 creeping along it, for the slightest error of judgment meant death 

 in the deep waters surging far down at the base of the cliff. I 

 crawled steadily along, and, selecting a few clutches of eggs, 

 numbered them to avoid confusion, and placed them in my 

 collecting box. 



The majority of the nests contained two eggs, but a few held 

 three, and several had only one egg. Much difference was apparent 

 in the size of the eggs, some being small. A thin, even coating of 

 lime protected the greenish-blue shell of some specimens ; others 

 were more thickly and roughly plastered. The clutches taken 

 were nearly all fresh. Many nests in the rookery were being 

 built ; others were ready for eggs. The nests were fine, loose, 

 comfortable structures, outwardly composed of kelp and long 

 strips of pig-face weed {Mesemhryanthemum) stripped of its 

 leaves, the inner lining being of hard grass and soft coloured sea- 

 weeds. In one or two cases additional material had been used 

 in the way of tWigs and bark of eucalypts and portions of fern 

 fronds, which the birds had evidently carried from the heights 

 above. Mesaurements of a few nests chosen at random give the 

 following results : — No. i. — -Depth, 5 inches ; bi-eadth, 20 inches ; 

 egg receptacle, 9 inches wide by 3 inches deep. No. 2. — Depth, 

 4 inches ; breadth, 18 inches ; egg receptacle, 6 inches wide by 2h 

 inches deep. No. 3. — Depth, 5 inches ; breadth, 22 inches ; egg 

 receptacle, 10 inches wide by 3 inches deep. 



The hoisting aloft of the collecting boxes proved a delicate 

 task, but, by an ingenious handling of the ropes, the difficulty was 

 overcome without the loss of a single specimen. The scaling of 

 the ropes to the cliff's summit was a different matter, and only 

 after a hard and trying climb, at the third attempt, was I able to 

 reach the top again. 



Evening was fast approaching as we gathered together our 

 gear and treasures and bade a reluctant adieu to the home of, 

 according to our reckoning, from 500 to 700 pairs of Cormorants. 

 We found, upon our return to the steamer, that the fishermen had 

 had a fairly successful day. Piled high in the stern were nearly 

 80 dozen barracouta. We were not sorry when, at about 11 p.m., 

 Hobart was reached and we were trudging homewards, thoroughly 

 tired, but happy. 



