Notes on some Australian Tubinares Petrels 

 and Albatrosses 



By EL'STACP: W. l^'ERGL'SOX. M.B.. Ch.^L. R.A.O.U., 

 Roscville, Sydr.ey. 



The question of what are Australian Petrels is one that has 

 attracted considerable attention of late years, and the recent 

 jjapers by ]\lathews. ^Macf^illivray. and Alexander have done niucli 

 to consolidate our knowledge of the species that occur in Aus- 

 tralian seas. The present notes, ^ving the observations made 

 on two recent trips to Europe and back, and on shorter trips on 

 the coast, may be worth recording, if only to supplement the ex- 

 periences of other travellers. Mr. Alexander, in his able article, 

 has well summed up the list of species according to our present 

 knowledge. In some particulars he does not appear to be in 

 complete agreement with Mr. ]\Iathews. I do not i:)rofess to 

 speak with authority on these c|uestions, but possibly some of my 

 observations may have some bearing on problems requiring eluci- 

 dation. 



I propose to give first some brief notes of one or two voyages, 

 and later to discuss jndividual species in the light of observations 

 made at different times. 



In January, 1916, I travelled from Durban to Sydney across 

 the Southern Indian Ocean, on a route approximating to that of 

 Dr. Macgillivray. The observations made on the Albatrosses 

 encountered have already been published; unfortunately, I can- 

 not reproduce the records of other species of Petrels seen on this 

 voyage, as the note-book was subsequently lost in transit from 

 England. I regret this the more as it would have been of dis- 

 tinct advantage to have been able to compare my daily list with 

 that of Dr. Macgillivray, particularly as the voyages were made 

 at opposite times of the year. One bird, the P>rown Petrel 

 (Prio finis chicrcus), seen commonly by Dr. Macgillivray, I failed 

 to identify, though a close look-out was kept. Practically from 

 leaving South Africa the boat was followed by Cape Hens (P. 

 (pquinoctialis), until the level of the Leeuwin was reached and 

 passed. During the following night the course Avas altered to 

 return to Eremantle, and next morning none was to be seen. 

 About halfway across large numbers were seen of a Petrel that 

 I am fairly confident was the Soft-i^Iumaged Petrel (Ptcrod- 

 ronia inollis). These were common for two or three days, and 

 then were rcjilaced by the White-headed Petrel ( /'. Icssofii), 

 which became equally abundant. 



Tlie explanation of the ilifferences in the two records probably 

 lies in the fact that the voyages were made at ojiposite seasons of 

 the year. 



About a month previous to the time ( May, i<)i';) <^f l^''- Mac- 

 gillivray's voyage, I was travelling l)etween Colombo and l""ro- 



