oO. 
335 
330 
337 
338 
No. in 
Book. 
740 
734 
A. J. 
Data Campbell's No. of 
N Eggs. 
2 
N 
THE JACKSONIAN OOLOGICAL COLLECTION, 
FAIRY PENGUIN, 
Eudyptula undina, Gould. 
Clutch of 2 eggs, taken on Albatross Island, Bass Straits, on the 19th of November, 1890. These 
eggs are very pointed specimens as compared with those of the last two species. Specimen A. measures 
in inches = 2°23 x 1°57. Specimen B. measures = 2°40 x 1°60. 
PELICAN, 
Pelecanus conspicillatus, Temminck. 
Splendid clutch of 2 of these rare eggs, taken by J. W. Mellor on an island in the Coorong, South 
Australia, on the rst of October, 1894. Writing to me he states :—“I had a great difficulty in getting 
off to this island, owing to there being no person living near the place for miles, and consequently no 
boat was procurable. I had to get a black, and cart a small skiff about eight miles to the nearest point 
on the mainland shore, and when this was accomplished there was much danger on account of the 
rough squalls encountered there. Everything had to be done with dispatch, and we carried our lives 
in our hands, with no thought of what might happen should we do this or that. But, however, we got 
on land again just in time to escape the squall that came up. This clutch is from the nest marked on 
the spot.” Both eggs are thickly coated with the natural lime, similar to that found on the eggs of the 
Cormorants and Gannets, etc. I have frequently seen flocks of the birds, but have never been fortunate 
enough to discover a nest. They appear difficult to find, but once a colony of them is located during 
breeding season, many eggs can then be procured, but they generally build in such remote and out of 
the way places that a person has little or no chance of dropping across them. ‘This set was very heavily 
incubated. Specimen A. measures in inches = 3°60 X 2'22. Specimen B. measures = 3°52 x 2°24. 
GIANT PETREL, 
Ossifraga gigantea, Gmelin. 
Clutch of one rare egg, taken on Macquarie Island, south of New Zealand, by Captain Waller, of 
the S.S. Victoria, during November, 1900. The shell is very coarse and granulated, in fact I think, 
with the exception of the eggs of the Cassowary and Emu, it is the roughest of any Australian 
species. It looks as if it had been made of sand, and solidified in a mould. Macquarie Island, 
where the egg came from, is situated about 650 miles south-west by south from New Zealand, and is 
the home of many sea birds, including the larger Penguins. This fine specimen measures in inches = 
Acots C0257: 
SHORT-TAILED PETREL, 
Puffinus tenuivostris, Temminck. 
Clutch of one egg, taken by Alex. Borthwick on Phillip Island, Western Port, Victoria, on the 
26th of November, 1884. (See A. J. Campbell’s book, page 888) This bird is familiarly known to 
most people as the “ Mutton Bird.” Thousands of the eggs have been frequently collected and sent to 
Victoria, and sold in the Melbourne markets for cooking purposes. They are a little larger than those 
laid by the ordinary domestic fowl, but bear a close resemblance. Notwithstanding the great number 
of eggs and birds annually taken for food, there seems to be no diminution in their numbers, and they 
resort to the same place to breed year after year. Matthew Flinders, the illustrious navigator, saw a 
great flock of these birds during his exploration of Bass Strait in 1798. There was a stream of them of 
from 50 to So yards in depth, and 300 yards or more in breadth. The birds were not scattered, but 
were flying as compactly as free movement of the wings seemed to allow, and during a full hour and a 
half they continued to pass, without interruption, at a rate little inferior to the swiftness of a pigeon. 
On the lowest computation the number could not have been less than 100,000,000. Taking the stream 
of birds to have been 50 yards deep, by 300 yards in width, and that it moved at the rate of 30 miles 
an hour, and allowing 9 cubic yards of space to each bird, the numbers would amount to 151,500,000, 
or thereabouts. The burrows required to lodge this number of birds would be 75,750,000, and, allow- 
ing a square yard to each nest or burrow, they would cover something more than 18} geographical 
59 
