26 BIRDS OF KERGUELEN ISLAND. 



Stomacli internally rugose and partially muscular; contained the 

 remains of crustaceans and beaks of cepbalopods. 



A single specimen of these birds (No. 29) was dug up by the dog on 

 October 12 from a very deep burrow under a clump of Azorella, but 

 none others were seen until November 15, when they suddenly appeared 

 in the day-time in considerable numbers. On December 16, I dug up 

 specimens with eggs, and frequently thereafter. They nest in very 

 deep burrows, with almost always a little pool of water at their entrance, 

 and keep up an incessant squealing while the dog is digging for them, 

 very like the sound of the water-whistle toys, or " whistling coffee-pots", 

 sold on the street-corners. The note is, in other words, very shrill, and 

 constantly trilling. They fight the dog more bravely than any other 

 petrels, generally coming out of the burrow hanging to his ear, and keep- 

 ing him off very successfully on the open ground. It was one of these 

 birds that has been elsewhere spoken of as being attacked by a skua 

 while in the water. 



The name "stinker" is fully warranted by the rank odor emitted by 

 the bird, and is given on the authority of the whalers on the schooner 

 Emma Jane. Captain Fuller, however, of the schooner Koswell King, 

 a very careful observer, tells me that the stinker is a much larger bird, 

 and that it nests on the ridges of the high hills, not in burrows, and 

 very late m the season. If so, I have never seen it. 



On December 18, while out in a boat, at some distance from the sta- 

 tion, I saw very many black petrels, both swimming and iiying, which 

 strongly resembled these birds in every respect, except that they had 

 not the white throat-spot described above. 



An embryo (No. 185) has been preserved in alcohol. 



Egg is single, white. 



One of the first birds dug out by the dogs after our arrival, on Sep- 

 tember 15, was a large petrel, covered everywhere by long, gra3', hairy 

 down, and found quite near the station. They were found often after- 

 ward, and were much hunted by the dogs as food. From their squealing 

 when captured, the structure of their bills, the depth of the burrows in 

 which they were found, the black plumage of those subsequently taken, 

 and their offensive odor, I supposed them to be the young of Maja- 

 queus, but was assured by the whalers that they were " Mutton-birds", 

 and of quite a different species. A curious circumstance with regard to 

 them is the fact that I never succeeded in getting any positive clew to 

 the old birds to which they belonged. At different times, I set snares 

 in front of the burrows, and sprinkled light dry earth within its entrance, 



