DOVE-LIKE FULMARS. 171 



ground, over which a fire had passed, destroying all the 

 surface vegetation. The young at this time were half-grown, 

 thickly covered with light grey down, and extremely fat. On 

 being held up by the feet, oily matter ran freely from their 

 throats. The old birds, on being taken hold of, fought 

 fiercely with their bills. These birds are at all times more 

 nocturnal than diurnal, and when hovering overhead at night, 

 utter a frequent call-note, like fee-tee-fee, from which the Maori 

 name is derived. 



"There are several w^ell-known breeding-places on the 

 south-east coast of Otago, and on Stewart's Island, from 

 which large supplies of potted birds are annually drawn and 

 forwarded to the northern tribes, a po/ia fiti (or cask of 

 preserved Petrel) being a gift worth the acceptance of the 

 highest chief." 



Nest. — According to Mr. Travers' observations in the 

 Chatham Islands, this Petrel makes a burrow in peaty ground — 

 running horizontally for about three or four feet and then 

 turning to the right or left, while a slight nest of twigs and 

 leaves at the extremity serves as a receptacle for the single egg. 

 The male assists in the work of incubation, and the young 

 birds, which are very fat, are esteemed a delicacy by the 

 Maories, who hold them over their mouths in order to swallow 

 the oily matter which is disgorged. The old birds roost on the 

 shore, and are very noisy during the night. (Cf. Saunders, 

 Manual, p. 18.) 



Eggs. — One, white. Dr. H. O. Forbes gives the measurements 

 of a series. Axis, 27-3'2 inches; diam. i*82-2-i5. 



THE DOVE-LIKE FULMARS. GENU.S CESTRELATA. 



Q^istrelafa, Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av. ii. p. 188 (1855). 



Type, (E. hoesitafa (Kuhl). 



The genus CEsfrelafa comprises about thirty species, mostly 



restricted to the southern temperate and tropical oceans, 



ranging north in the Pacific to Japan, and occasionally 



wandering to the latitude of the British Islands. 



The number of tail-feathers is always twelve. The tarsi are 

 not compressed as in the genus Fiiffijius, but are rounded ow 



