264 KALOONIN.H. 



evidently had left their mark on a neifjhbouring rocky islet, where my father had taken three 

 e,t,'gs about twenty years ago. A number of dead White-faced Storm-Petrels were lying about, 

 one quite freshly killed, and all more or less eaten. No doubt their nest was in the vicinity, 

 but we could not find it." 



The eggs are usually three, rarely twcj in number for a sitting, oval or rounded-oval in form, 

 comparatively smooth shelled, the surface being dull and lustreless in some, slightly glossy in 

 others. They are extremely variable in colour, even in the same set, the ground colour ranging 

 from buff to isabelline, and reddish-white to pinkisii-white, and the markings different shades of 

 red, brown and reddish-black. A set of three, taken by the late Mr. K. H. Bennett, at IMount 

 Manara, in the W'ilcannia District, South-western New- South Wales, has the reddish-tlesh 

 ground colour almost obscured by numerous freckles, dots and confluent patches of rich reddish- 

 brown ; in a few places they are almost black ; the ground colour of one specimen is lighter, 

 the markings at the thicker end smaller and more uniform in size, and measure as follows: — 

 Length (A) 2-1 x 1-64 inches; (8)1-97 x 1-115 inches; (C) 2-1 x 1-57 inches. A set of three 

 taken by Dr. Lonsdale Holden on the north-west coast of Tasmania, on the 4th October, 1888, 

 measures: — Length (A) 2-12 x 1-6 inches; (8)2-09 >< i''H inches; (C) 2-17 x 1-62 inches. 

 Another set of three taken by Dr. Holden on the 21st September, 1891, in the same locality, is 

 of an isabelline groundcolour, which is almost obscured by minute freckles, dots, spots and 

 irregular-shaped blotches of deep reddish-brown; in one specimen the markings are evenly 

 distributed o\'er the surface of the shell, in the remaining two they are confluent, forming a cap 

 on the larger end of one specimen and on the smaller end of the other: — Length (A) 2-12 x 

 1-65 inches; (8)2-17 >< I'^S inches; (C) 2-18 x 1-67 inches. .V set of three taken by Mr. 

 (jeorge Savidge, in company with his son Clarence, and " Fred " an aboriginal, from some lofty 

 cliffs near Wombat Creek, in the Upper Clarence District, North-eastern New South Wales, 

 on the 30th September, 1895, somewhat resembles the preceding set, but the markings on two 

 specimens are more evenly distributed over the surface of the shell ; in the other the ground 

 colour is almost obscured with numerous rich reddish-brown freckles and spots, with which are 

 intermingled a few blotches of a nearly reddish-black hue ; in one place on the shell the colour 

 appears as if it had brushed off while wet, and formed a sniear : — Length (A) 2-2 x 162 

 inches (this specimen is figured on Dlate 8 xvi., fig. 1); (IJ) 2-21 x 1-62 inches; (C) 2-19 x 

 1-67 inches. Another set received from Mr. Savidge, and taken in the same district on the i6th 

 .August, 1896, is altogether lighter and smaller, the ground colour being of a faint reddish- 

 pink, one specimen being unevenly marked with freckles and spots of light reddish-brown, with 

 which are intermingled some small blotches of dark reddish-brown ; on another specimen the 

 markings are of a richer hue, with an almost perfect band of confluent markings around the 

 centre of the shell ; in the remaining one, which is of a decided pinkish-red hue, the markings 

 are larger on the thicker end, except three conspicuous reddish-black blotches on one side, at 

 the smaller end : — Length (.\) 1-97 x i-6(i inches; (I!) 1-93 x 1-62 inches; (C) 1-98 x 1-63 

 inches. 



Young birds of both sexes are dark brown above, with dull rufous margins to most of the 

 feathers, including the upper wing-coverts; some of the feathers of the rump and the upper 

 tail-coverts basing faint ashy-grey cross-bars : tail feathers dark-brown with a greyish wash, 

 and tipped with pale buffy-white, the central pair having darker cross-bars, the remainder barred 

 with rufous-buff, which is more distinct on the inner webs ; head, cheeks, ear-coverts and nape 

 (lull black, some of the feathers on the nape mottled with reddish-fulvous ; all the under parts 

 rufous-buff streaked with black, the feathers on the throat much paler and devoid of streaks. 

 Wing 1 1-3 inches. An immature male in the Australian Museum Collection resembles the 

 adult on the upper parts, but the entire under surface is dull white, faintly tinged with buff on 

 the breast, where the feathers have heart-shaped black spots, and the thighs barred with black, 



