144 Littler, A Trip to Ninth Island, Bass Strait. [ist jan 



not long in discovering signs that these birds had commenced to 

 come in to clean out their homes in preparation for the breeding 

 season. How long prior to our arrival they had been coming in 

 it is impossible to say. As we afterwards discovered, not only 

 were the burrows driven under the tussock-grass almost every- 

 where, but also in the soft soil on the top and slopes of the 

 island. An investigation showed that in these latter places the 

 burrows were from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in length ; many 

 were curved, some almost forming the letter L. The nesting 

 chamber was some 6 inches in diameter, with a few fragments of 

 vegetable debris on the floor. It was our practice every evening, 

 after watching the Little Penguins landing on some part of the 

 island, to spend some hours on the various rookeries armed with 

 a powerful acetylene lamp, watching the various birds. We 

 found that by walking slowly and only speaking in whispers we 

 could move with impunity and observe the birds cleaning out 

 their burrows, courting, fighting, and what not. We found that 

 the first White-faced Storm-Petrel arrived each evening 

 punctually at 6.50. By 8 o'clock the majority of the birds had 

 arrived and were in their burrows hard at work " spring cleaning." 

 It was a very pretty sight to see them alight and seek their 

 burrows ; they cannot walk after the manner of ordinary birds, 

 but flit over the ground, just tipping it with their toes. They 

 gave one the impression of being on springs. As soon as a bird 

 arrived at the entrance of its burrow it would stop and dart 

 suddenly out of sight. Even with hundreds of birds of this 

 species round us not a sound was heard while they were on the 

 wing, but when in their burrows a mouse-like squeaking, only 

 slightly louder, could be heard. With many hundreds of birds 

 underground, the noise was distinctly audible. From the 22nd 

 to the 25th, Storm-Petrels were only fairly numerous; then a 

 curious thing occurred — not a single bird put in an appearance for 

 three nights. On the 29th they reappeared in vast numbers, and 

 continued every night while we were on the island. No prettier 

 sight can be imagined than hundreds, perhaps thousands, of 

 these dainty little creatures passing and repassing in the rays of 

 the lamp, coming from darkness into light and disappearing into 

 darkness as they flitted over the rookeries. They resembled 

 giant moths, and appeared as thick as flakes in a snow-shower 

 on a calm day. Again and again we caught individuals in our 

 hands as they flew past, and released them again. It was found 

 that after being held in the hand for a few seconds and then 

 the fingers slowly opened, the birds would remain either quietly 

 resting or poised with outstretched wings for quite an appreciable 

 time. On suddenly turning the light on to any bird on the 

 ground, it was always possible to pick it up without any attempt 

 at escape on its part. As to the number of birds on the various 

 rookeries, it is impossible to arrive at any estimate beyond stat- 



