278 BASSET HULL, Archipdacio of the Recherche. K'ap"?," 



line. Calling at Melbourne, we attended a special meeting of 

 the R.A.O.U., and had the pleasure of seeing many of the \'ic- 

 torian members. On arrival at Adelaide I received a telegram 

 from Esi)erance, W.A., informing rne that the sailing of the 

 s.s. Eucla from Albany to Lsperance had been postponed for 

 a week. This meant a serious delay in commencing operations 

 at the islands, and a curtailment of the time available for my 

 investigations. The thirty-six hours at Adelaide were pleasantly 

 spent in the company of Captain S. A. White, who showed us 

 a portion of his collection, and the birds inhabiting the grounds 

 of his historic homestead. 



Albany was reached at noon on November 15th, and there we 

 were met by Messrs. Troughton and W'right, who had completed 

 their work on the Plain, and were collecting marsupials in the 

 vicinity of Albany. Calls were made on several i)ersons who 

 were reputed to have knowledge of the Recherche Archipelago, 

 and a quantity of information was gathered. Much of the in- 

 formation related to the experience of long-gone-by days, and 

 convincing details were lacking. Captain Douglas of the Eucla, 

 however, was able to give us the most reliable and recent infor- 

 mation, he having been engaged for many years navigating the 

 Archipelago. From him I ascertamed that the "Molly Hawk" 

 was the Pacific Gull ; that Mutton Birds and Penguins were 

 found on most of the islands, and that he was unaware of any 

 Albatrosses or other Petrels breeding in the group. 



Rabbit Island, near Albany, being the recorded locality for 

 the Great-winged Petrel (Pterodroma iiiacroptera), I engaged 

 a motor launch, and, accompanied by Messrs. Troughton, Grant, 

 and Falkiner (an Albany resident who formerly resided at Es- 

 perance and visited some of the Recherche Islands), I devoted 

 Sunday, 20th November, to an investigation of Michaelmas and 

 Rabbit (or Mistaken) Islands, in King George Sound. 



Michaelmas Island lies just inside of Breaksea Island at the 

 entrance of the Sound. Leaving Albany at daylight, we reached 

 the island at 7.?>0 a.m., and effected a landing without much 

 difficulty, there being very little sea. The shore is steej) granite, 

 with rugged boulders projecting through dense scrub, which 

 grows nearly down to the water line. Grant went along the .shore 

 to the eastward, while we climbed up to the top and descended 

 to the other or seaward side. Grant rejoined us after having 

 traversed the coast to the eastern extremitv and returned along 

 the ridge. We saw no trace of occupation by any sea birds, and 

 the only land birds seen were the Green-backed \\'hite-cye. Yel- 

 low-breasted Whistler, Cirey P.ell-I\Iagi)ic or v^(|ueaker {Strepera 

 versicolor) , and an Acatithiza not identified. I was surprised to 

 find no evidence of occupation by Mutton Birds or Penguins, as 

 both are found on the adjacent Breaksea Island, and Michaelmas 

 is entirely uninhabited, while Breaksea is occupied by the light- 

 hou.se keeper and his staff. , Leaving Michaelmas Island about 

 11 o'clock, we proceeded to Rabbit Island, which lies close to. 



