MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1896. 



The President (Hia Excellency Viscount Gormanston, R.C.M.G.), in 

 the chair. 



There was an unusually large, influential, and representative gather- 

 ing on Monday at the monthly meeting of the Royal Society of 

 Tasmania. Frior to tha commencement of the mee'lng a handsome 

 memorial fountain to the memory of Sir Robert Hamilton, K.C.M.G., 

 LL.D., tbe late revered Governor of the colony, erected in the vestibule 

 of the Museum, was unveiled, the ceremony being performed by His 

 Excellency Viscount Gormanston, K.C.M.G , the present Governor. 



The following gentlemen were elected Fellows :— Messrs. Cecil 

 Anderson, A. D. Watchorn, Wilfrid Giblin, M.R.C.S., R. Templeman. 



Dr. Montgomery, Bishop of Tasmania, read an interesting paper 

 on "A Night in a Pfetrel iRookery." On February 29 last 

 an opportunity presented itself of enabling him to observe the 

 habits of the sooty petrel in its breeding places, and he 

 availed himself fully of it. Happening to be at Big Dog Island 

 he walked down to the rookery at 2.30 a.m. under a full moon 

 to watch the birds till they left their young for the day. A day 

 or two later he sallied out at 9.30 p.m. and stayed till 2.30 a.m., 

 completing, in this way, a night's observation. His experience was 

 the same as that of residents in the locality. He was convinced that 

 the petrels came back to their young silently. So silently that it has 

 a ghost-like effect, in order to give as little notice as possible to their 

 enemies, the big gulls, and to the crows. Hundreds of thousands of 

 birds flish up from the sea and disappear into their holes just as it is 

 becoming dark, without uttering a note The only disagreeable 

 characteristic of this graceful bird is its hideous cackle. For at 

 least an hour, up to 10 p.m., the gurglings and hoarse noises 

 continue. Then silence falls on the rookery. The young birds are 

 digesting, and the old birds are resting. But the parents are not all 

 in their holes. A great many come out almost immediately, and walk 

 about amongst the warm long grass, Finally, a great many sleep 

 in the open air. He had spent a long time in stepping about among 

 these sleeping birds as they crouched on the ground. They do not 

 put their heads under their wings. At times a bird would walk up 

 to him and stop at his foot, unoonscious of danger, but the slightest 

 movement made them scuttle away like rabbits, for they were quite 

 unable to fly off the level ground. It is wonderful how fast they can 

 run down a track. He had seen a young fellow find it diflBcult to keep 

 up with them. He saw them dance their ghostly quadrille previous 

 to their departure seaward in the early morning. The young birds 

 (numbering many hundred thousand) were hushei in complete silence 

 underground. At 5.19 a.m. all the birds had disappeared to seaward. 

 At 5.23 a.m., just 4 minutes after the last petrel had disappeared, he 

 heard the wailing of a Pacific gull. In 20 minutes more a squadron 

 of those great creatures, accompanied by as many crows, came reeling 

 over his head, quaking, wailing, and quartering the ground carefully 

 to see if any belated petrel could be discovered. If any old bird is 

 late he makes for a hole, and does not stir out of it all day. Dr. 

 Montgomery followed with an accurate account of the habits of the 

 sooty petrel from the day it returns to breed in the Bass Straits to 

 the time when it flies away, in all probability to Arctic regions. 

 The sooty petrel returns to breed about September 17, having paired 

 already. They commence at once to scratch out their holes, the process 

 lasting off and on for about six weeks. One bird is always seen to be at 

 work, but whether the work is divided is not known, though in all 

 probability the labour is shared. They do not stay on the island in 



