^°''.9i^^'"] Hull, Avifauna of New South Wales Islands. 211 



in on the beaches along the coast in hundreds for some weeks 

 past. 



When about six miles from Ulladulla, and two miles off shore, 

 we encountered quite a number of Petrels, many of which were 

 the black Shearwaters or Mutton-Birds, both Wedge-tailed and 

 Short -tailed being recognizable. But sitting on the water were 

 numbers of a smaller bird, a stranger to me. As we ran amongst 

 them they rose with a peculiar short fluttering flight, more like 

 that of a Teal than any other bird I have seen rising from the water. 

 Their white breasts and necks showed clearly as they rose, and 

 Grant shot one, which we soon had under examination. It 

 appeared to me to be PuffinJis gavia {Reinholdia reinholdi hyroni, 

 Mat.), and I labelled it as such for the time being. The colour 

 of the upper surface, however, was entirely different from that 

 figured by Mathews under the name of Brown-backed Petrel. 

 The freshly-killed bird was of a deep slaty- blue — the colour of 

 the sea under a lowering sky. When subsequently selecting a 

 specific name for this bircl I long hesitated between " cheimeria " 

 (" the stormy or wintry sea") and " cyaneoleuca," which I finally 

 adopted. This blue colour was very marked, and accompanied 

 by a rich bloom, like that of a ripe plum. The bloom has now 

 disappeared entirely, and the blue has become dull and lifeless ; 

 the whole appearance of the bird has changed. I have noticed 

 the same loss of colour in the skins of the White-winged Petrel, 

 and of the rich gloss or bloom of the Wedge-tailed and Short- 

 tailed Petrels, but in no former instance was the change so marked. 



Mr. Grant secured two more birds before we had passed through 

 the flock, which flew seaward as we disturbed the individuals, 

 possibly loo in all. About a mile further on we ran into another 

 flock of these birds, and secured two more specimens. Thinking 

 that we were on the right track for their nesting-place, I did not 

 consider it necessary to take any more by shooting ; besides, there 

 was a fairly heavy swell, and it sometimes took two or three turns 

 of the launch before we could pick up our birds, and time was a 

 valuable consideration. 



We soon sighted Brush Island, and arrived at a safe anchorage 

 at 8.30 a.m., the distance from Ulladulla being close upon 15 miles. 

 The island is long and narrow, about 80 acres in extent, high in 

 the centre, and thickly covered with Casuarina, Banksia, small 

 eucalypts, and undergrowth, chiefly consisting of a salt-bush 

 {Rhagodia billardiera). The native name of the island is Murra- 

 murang, and it lies barely half a mile off Murramurang Head, 

 an old-time camping-ground of the blacks, with one of the most 

 extensive kitchen middens on the coast. 



Immediately upon landing we found our old friends the Little 

 Penguins engaged, as usual, in what appears to be their all-the- 

 year-round occupation of reproducing the species. Burrows and 

 cre\aces amongst the rocks contained either fresh eggs or young 

 birds, incubated eggs or big, pot-bellied chickens, with a mere 

 collar of down left to distinguish them from their parents. The 



