84 Macgillivray, Ornithologists in North Queensland. [J^ 



Emu 



Oct. 



Petrels cannot rise directly from the ground, but run or scurry along 

 until they come to a ledge, when they rise, and make off to the open 

 sea. 



We frequently went up at night to where their burrows were. 

 Many birds were flying to and fro, and their mournful wailing and 

 moaning call was to be heard from all sides. Two at one burrow 

 were crying like a pair of cats ; another pair that we could discern 

 seemed to be indulging in a kind of display whilst calling in this way. 



Just before dark flocks of these birds would return to the island 

 and fly up and down over the sea close to the shore for some time 

 before coming in on to their burrows. 



Porphyrio melanonotus {Porphyria melanotus neomelanotus). — This 

 species was noted by Mr. M'Lennan on the Pascoe River and also on 

 the Archer River swamps, on the opposite side of the peninsula. 



Podiceps poliocephalus (Poliocephalus p. poliocephalus). — Noted by 

 Mr. M'Lennan on the Pascoe River on ist August, 191 3. 



Sterna media (Thallaseus bengalensis torresii). — A few of these birds 

 were noted on our way up the coast, near Townsville, and later, when 

 we were nearing the Ashmore Banks, small flocks were seen hawking 

 over shoals of fish. We did not find them nesting on any of the 

 islands or sand-banks visited. 



Sterna cristata (Thallasseus bergii pelecanoides). — A small colony of 

 these birds was nesting on the south end of Quoin Island when we 

 visited it on 30th November. On our way out to the Ashmore Banks 

 they were frequently noted hawking over the shoals of fish. When 

 we arrived at the banks a great crowd of birds was seen to be over 

 No. 3 ; on nearing the shore this was seen to be composed of this Tern 

 and Sula leucogaster. On landing at the south end we found a 

 nesting colony of the Tern. Nearly every nest (which was a mere 

 depression in the sand) was occupied by a newly-hatched, downy 

 young bird, several of which were running about ; other nests con- 

 tained eggs nearly hatching. Although the colour pattern is the 

 same in all the young ones, the ground colour of the down varies in 

 the same way as that of the eggs. 



We found a larger colony at the northern end of the sand-bank. 

 The nests here mostly contained a single egg ; those on the outskirts 

 and at one end were mostly fresh, whilst those in the centre and at 

 the other end were incubating. A few young were in nests or were 

 running about. 



When we arrived at Raine Island, on the 4th December, two small 

 colonies were nesting in the depression in the centre of the island. 

 The birds themselves were very numerous ; the air over the island 

 seemed to be full of them. They are, however, mostly in pairs, and 

 keep together when flying, every movement being in unison. They 

 were often seen to perform most remarkable aerial evolutions, 

 tumbling and rushing down from a great height, and soaring high 

 in the air. They were frequently seen in early morning carrying off 

 turtles' eggs from the sandy shore when these had been unearthed 

 by the nesting reptiles. 



Another considerable colony of these birds was found on a large 

 sand-bank inside the Barrier Reef, north-west of Raine Island. Most 

 of the nests contained fresh eggs, though many must get broken by the 

 turtles, which overrun the bank every night. 



