1^2 NiCHOLLs, Study of Penguins on The Nobbies, Vic. [,^^"1",, 



and the noise and scuffling reminds one of the Petrels in a Mutton- 

 Bird rookery. Their loud, discordant cries at times resembled 

 the crying of a naughty, petulant child in a temper. 



Looking up at the rookery, from the rocks at the water's edge, 

 one could discern dozens of birds silhouetted against the black 

 sky along the crest. They looked like ninepins on the skyline. 

 And here and there, as a bird emerged from its burrow and sat 

 upright at the entrance, its breast gleamed white in the darkness 

 for a minute or so, and then vanished as the bird turned and 

 moved away. 



That night we secured several of the birds. Those taken at 

 the little cave at the entrance were quite wet, and those secured 

 on the top of the rookery were damp, and it was an easy matter 

 to tell if a bird had come up from the sea or just out of a burrow. 

 We roughly estimated that at least 200 birds were to be seen at 

 any time on this rookery at night on an area of less than an acre. 

 During the day, when examining the rookery, it appears to be 

 deserted, even if 70 per cent, of the burrows be occupied. But 

 at night time the place was overrun with birds. They are every- 

 where under foot, and an evening visit is certainly an " eye- 

 opener " when trying to estimate the numbers inhabiting the 

 rookeries. 



The constant journeyings of the Penguins to and from the 

 rookeries have worn little tracks and paths in the pigface-weed. 

 On the main track (photograph No. 4) the vegetation is quite dry 

 and bleached and beaten down into the soil, showing the course 

 followed by the birds. Photographs Nos. 2, 3, and 4 are taken 

 in direct series from the sea, up through the lane of pebbles to the 

 main track, from which pathways lead all over and up to the 

 crest of the rookery. 



The Shelly Beach rookery is situated ij to 2 miles from The 

 Nobbies, along the coastline of the island back towards Cowes. 

 It faces north, and consists of a beautiful curving bay, about 

 one mile in length (photograph No. 5). Unlike The Nobbies, it 

 contains no rock or pigface-weed, but is more or less of a sand- 

 dune formation covered with " blue-bush," " cushion-bush," and 

 tussocks of porcupine-grass (photograph No. 6). The bay is ringed 

 round with a low hill range, and the level ground, averaging from 

 150 to 200 yards in width, extends from the foot of the hills to the 

 beach front. 



This whole area is one large rookery, and part of it was once 

 an aboriginal kitchen midden. The birds are to be found moulting 

 everywhere. Underground (photograph No. 7) ; under the tussocks 

 (photograph No. 8) ; as many as six were counted huddled in one 

 heap under the dead branches of the " blue-bush " (photograph 

 No. 10). Penguins were also to be found half-way up the hill 

 slope and also on the top, and away inland more than half a mile 

 from the sea. In addition to the birds captured and measured 

 here, we saw over a hundred others, mostly in the " B " type of 

 plumage. Of this number, two only were young birds with the 



