30 



A1\ T AtrSTftAf.tAN BIRD BOOK. 



52 Broad-billed Dove-Petrel (Blue-), Whale-Bird, Prion, 



P. vittatits, S. Oceans. c. ocean 11.5 



Upper delicate blue-gray; head darker than back; edge 

 shoulder, wing, tip-tail black; under, line over eye, 

 white; flanks blue; broad bill blue tipped black; feet 

 light-blue; f., sim. Cuttlefish. 



the surface of the water with its webbed feet as by the action oi 

 the wings." 



This habit of "walking" on the sea is said to be responsible 

 for the name "Petrel," which is associated with Saint Peter, who, 

 of old, walked on the waters. Sailors call them Mother Carey's 

 Chickens. 



The largest Australian Storm-Petrel is the Whitefaced Storm- 

 Petrel, whose scientific name, Pelagodroma, means "open sea wan- 

 derer." It has been recorded even from the North Atlantic and 

 Britain. Many thousands of these birds still nest on Mud Island, 

 a sandbank just inside Port Phillip Heads. The presence there 

 of a true ocean wanderer is a valuable piece of evidence to sup- 

 port the geographer in his claim that Port Phillip Bay once had 

 a wide opening, which has been almost closed by the drift of sand 

 across its mouth. The Storm-Petrels have probably nested there 

 for many, many centuries. Long may they continue to do so! 

 They hurt no one, and they are a feature of interest to all inter- 

 ested in the flora and fauna of Australia, and to natural history 

 students and Nature-lovers in general. 



