THE VICTOKIAN NATURALIST. 179 



Although I have visited several of the largest Petrel rookeries 

 known, the sounds on this one were different to any of the others. 

 The most southerly rookery of my experience (Kerguelen Island) 

 was a quiet one, although millions of birds were there ; the 

 temperate one (Phillip Island, Vict.) was slightly turbulent ; 

 while this, probably the largest and most northerly south of the 

 line, seemed to me to be the most lively one. Egg-laying had not 

 started, and the only Petrel eggs I have found on the Abrolhos 

 were those of the White-faced species, Pelagodroma marina, 

 Lath. Young were also in the burrows, in addition to hard-set 

 and fresh eggs. I saw the remains of several dead specimens of 

 what appeared to be the Allied Petrel, Puffinus assiniilis, Gld., on 

 Pelsart Island. This I took to be the result of capture by cats, 

 which certainly help to make the birds feel nervous. Lizards are 

 enemies they have been used to, but cats and human beings have 

 considerably reduced the bird life upon the group. It cannot 

 now be described in the words of John Gilbert, and till cats and 

 guano workers leave the islands this breeding haunt of the sea- 

 fowl will present only a small proportion of the size of a 

 century gone by. The consumption upon the islands by 

 fishermen and others, though large, is not particularly injurious. 

 They only take the eggs upon immediate laying ; seldom more 

 than twice from any rookery, and rarely that from more than two. 

 The cats, at one time domesticated as far as the original stock 

 was concerned, cause considerable trouble to that shy bird, the 

 Noddy Tern, Aiious stolidus. This species, gentle in its manner 

 of identification, is not disposed to defend itself as the pugnacious 

 Sooty Tern, Anous fuliginosus, does. As a natural consequence, 

 the strongest help to depose the weakest in so far as they are not 

 so disposed to breed as they once were in this locality. Like the 

 case of the Gigantic Pigeon of the Pacific, the feline member is 

 doing its work, though more slowly. The Noddy is the first Tern 

 to breed on the Abrolhos. This season (28/10/99) their 

 behaviour is something different to usual, as they have flocked 

 in and formed a colony of, say, 2,000 birds, but only half a 

 dozen have attempted to build nests. In a 2,000 colony of 

 Anous f'uliginosa I collected two eggs of A. stolidus, which were 

 present in less than a dozen pairs. 



For the first time I now met the Osprey, Pandion leuco- 

 cephalus, Gld., in its home. I was particularly impressed with the 

 difference between the impression made by the species in Great 

 Britain and the sub-species in Australia. From Professor New- 

 ton's description, you will observe the Osprey is an elegant bird 

 while on the wing above a lake situated in mountainous country. 

 " The feat of carrying off an Osprey's egg is often difficult, and 

 attended with some risk, but has more than once tempted the 

 most daring of bird nesters. Apart from the dangerous situation, 



