-^i'"''] Gabriel, TJie Incubation of the Mutton-bird Egg. 227 



1914 J 



developed chick, and lived two days. As the eggs were placed 

 under the hen on 30th November, at 8 p.m., the time was 

 forty-six days. Several of the other eggs were broken by the 

 hen ; they appeared to contain partially-developed chickens, 

 about the same stage as the one you saw on 27th December. 

 The period of incubation corresponds to our experience with 

 the eggs put in the incubator." 



In the past many of our members have taken great interest 

 in the nidification of this wonderful bird, and any additional 

 data is received with interest ; so I trust that these notes, 

 when checked by others, will be found to be thoroughly con- 

 clusive. 



It is extremely difficult to gain authentic data at the 

 rookeries of Philhp Island. The holes during November are 

 so frequently raked out by novices that it is quite possible 

 that eggs may have been passed over in some holes, making 

 the calculation of incubation unreHable. But the eggs which 

 were set under the hen were gathered by myself on 27th 

 November, and were perfectly fresh, as I had been at the same 

 holes two days before and found them empty. 



BOOK NOTICE. 

 Australasian Fossils : a Student's Manual of Pakeontology. 

 By F. Chapman, A.L.S., Palaeontologist to the National 

 Museum, Melbourne. Melbourne : George Robertson and 

 Co. 1914. 340 pp. (5i X 3i). 7s. 6d. 



In •' Australasian Fossils," the student, or even the casual 

 inquirer, will find another of those handbooks, " written on the 

 spot," which are one by one making known to the scientists of 

 the old world the component parts of our Austrahan natural 

 history, and which are free from the remarkable statements and 

 misleading illustrations which so often occur in English and 

 American text-books. The volume under notice, in addition to 

 a preface, in which the author calls attention to the plan of the 

 work, has the advantage of an introduction by Professor E. 

 W. Skeats, D.Sc, Professor of Geology in the University of 

 Melbourne, pointing out some of the main facts to be derived 

 from a study of the palaeontology of a given area. The work, 

 which has been written with that thoroughness which is so 

 characteristic of the author, is divided into two main parts — 

 General Principles and Systematic Palaeontology — the former in 

 separate chapters, dealing with the Nature and Uses of Fossils ; 

 Classification of Fossil Animals and Plants ; the Geological 

 Epochs ; and what objects may be found as fossils, and the 

 kinds of rocks they may be found in. In Part II. — Systematic 



