64 IN AUSTRALIAN WILDS 



thought, the number of "Sooty Petrels" could not have 

 been less than one hundred millions. In the vicinity 

 of Cape Woolamai I have seen flocks composed, cer- 

 tainly, of more than a million birds. 



Cat Island is the nesting place of thousands of 

 Gannets [Sula australis], and the rookery presents a 

 wonderful sight in the breeding season. Nests are so 

 numerous that, walking among them, one is within 

 reach of sharp beaks all the time. The birds are 

 rarely disturbed, and, consequently, are unafraid of 

 man. When we visited Cat Island most of the Gan- 

 nets were brooding. A dozen members of our party 

 invaded the rookery, and only a few birds took wing. 

 The report of a gun served to scare some hundreds 

 more. We had come, not to kill, but to study, and the 

 object of the shot was to enable a cinematograph 

 operator to take a flight picture. He had great ex- 

 pectations, which were not fully realised, for the 

 seabirds declined to rise in a body. The air, how- 

 ever, was crowded with flying forms, mostly Gannets 

 returned from fishing. Every minute some descended, 

 while others rose from the rookery, here and there. 

 The moving picture man exposed a long film, and 

 became more cheerful. 



The Gannet lays only one egg to a clutch. The 

 nest, composed of soil, debris and guano, is mound- 

 shaped, and concave at the top. It may measure five 

 feet or more in circumference, and from four to six 

 inches in height. The Cat Island rookery resembles 

 a little city, in which all the houses are alike. The 

 nests are built at nearly an equal distance apart, in 

 rows, and the rookery shows more evidence of design 

 than do many Eastern villages. It would repay con- 

 tinuous study in nesting time. Naturalists have 

 made only flying visits to Gannetopolis, whereas a 

 month would not be too long a period to spend there. 



Dispositions differ, even on Cat Island. Some of 

 the birds are peaceful, others are inclined to quarrel. 



