Vol. IX, 

 igio 



"I Stray Feathers. 25 1 



probably went north or north-west instead of east or south, 

 apparently from an error in its race instinct. It has been 

 recorded from Stewart Island, N.Z., which is in closer connection 

 with the group of islands to the south where the species is known 

 to breed. One point of interest is whether this specimen 

 wandered north-west from the waters of Macquarie Island, or 

 directly from the south. 



Many years ago, when visiting Kerguelen Island (Feb., 1898), 

 I met a bird that differed so greatly from Aptenodytes patagonica 

 that I made a note of it in my diary, without placing any name 

 on my list in TJie Ibis* as hitherto unrecorded in Kerguelen. 

 The Ibis words read : — " {c) was a moulting bird with nearly 

 double the girth of others of the same height, and was 

 apparently one-third heavier. Instead of golden-yellow on its 

 neck, it had white feebly tinged with yellow, and there was no 

 gold line on the chest." At that time it appeared to me to be 

 one-third heavier, but on further consideration it must have been 

 of greater weight. The King Penguin with which I compared 

 it proved to be about 34 lbs. in weight. 



A few weeks ago, when comparing Antarctic Penguins, I 

 realized that the bird I saw in Kerguelen was the Emperor 

 Penguin {^Aptenodytes forsteri). As A. forsteri had not been 

 previously recorded, and did not appear to be breeding when I 

 was visiting the island, I am inclined to record the single 

 specimen as only a visitor, in so low a latitude, in January. It 

 should have been in Antarctica, where it alone is known to live. 

 Dr. Wilson, of the Discovery (National Antarctic Expedition, 

 1901-4), says: — "The Emperor Penguin is a true ice-bird, never 

 being found north of the great ice barrier. It breeds in the 

 Antarctic in August, the period of greatest cold and complete 

 darkness, when the thermometer is often 100 degrees below zero. 

 It is a true south polar bird." 



These solitary examples apparently have over-travelled in their 

 migrations, but under what conditions — storm, errant, or 

 company of another species — it would be scarcely safe to say. — 

 Robert Hall. The Museum, Hobart. 



Cleveland (Tas.) Notes. — 21/9/09. — Watched male Yellow- 

 throated Honey-eater {Ptilotis flavigidaris) feeding his sitting 

 mate. As he neared the nest he gave a peculiar call, she hopped 

 from the nest on to a twig near, received the food (an insect) 

 and returned to the nest. The nest was built among bracken 

 ferns and fallen twigs, and contained two eggs. One of these 

 appeared heavily incubated, and the other light and fresh, but 

 it afterwards proved to be addled. 



19/10/09. — Found fresh egg of Pallid Cuckoo {Cucultis pallidus) 



* Ibis, Jan., 1900, p. 34. 



