12 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. fVol. XXV. 



A NIGHT WITH THE BIRDS OF LAWRENCE ROCKS. 



By a. H, E. Mattingley, C.M.Z.S. 



{Mead before the Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria, 9th March, 1908.) 



Towering aloft, wind swept, and like a grim sentinel guarding 

 the entrance to the beautiful bay at Portland stand the precipitous 

 cliffs of Lawrence Rocks, a mere speck of land buffeting the 

 billows of the Southern Ocean as they ceaselessly fall upon it 

 and smash themselves into spray, roaring meanwhile in their 

 agony. As the dying waves expire they encircle the islet with a 

 girdle of snowy foam, which recedes from the brown, jagged 

 shelves of rocks in hundreds of miniature cascades and waterfalls, 

 scintillating in iridescent colours as the refraction of light forms 

 small rainbows in the sunshine, Situated on the narrow neck 

 which connects the two larger masses of rock is a small area of 

 earthy soil, the detritus washed down from the surrounding 

 volcanic cliffs. On this soil " Pig-face Weed," Mesembrianthemum 

 cequilaterale, and the Native Mallow, Lavatera ^j^e6e;a, Sims, 

 one moss, which, not being in fruit, could not be identified, 

 and one lichen find a precarious existence. 



This verdure-clad spot, a perfect oasis in the desert of bare 

 rock and wilderness of waves, which no doubt long aeons ago 

 was separated from the mainland by some vast volcanic distur- 

 bance, is resorted to by several species of sea-roaming birds as a 

 breeding ground, on account of the friableness of the soil, which 

 is readily burrowed into by them when forming a nesting home. 

 Others, however, prefer to nest on top of the barest and most 

 exposed part of the rock. 



The sea-birds frequenting this place do so on account of its 

 freedom from ground enemies, such as native cats, foxes, and 

 dingoes, and also because it is in the vicinity of their food supply. 

 Owing to their freedom from molestation for perhaps centuries 

 past, the birds repair to this spot to nest and bring forth their 

 young precisely at the same date each year. Knowing this, I 

 journeyed by train to Portland during my Christmas vacation to 

 enable me to add to my knowledge of the ni(iification of these 

 birds, and also to obtain a series of photos, of the avine 

 inhabitants of this lonely place. The Countess, a well-found 

 vessel of about 12 tons register, was awaiting me, and with a 

 plentiful supply of water and provisions, not forgetting my camera 

 and a " bluey," we set sail on a bright afternoon before 

 Christmas for the rock. The boat, propelled by its engine, 

 supplemented with its sails, danced merrily over the azure-blue 

 waters of Portland bay, and as we rounded a headland away, in 

 the distance to the south Lawrence Rock was discerned like an 

 emerald set in the golden light of the shimmering ocean, with 



