ON THE BIRDS OF THE SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS. 239 



angular fragments of rock and a little earth, and contained single eggs, which were quite 

 fresh. When approached, the sitting birds ejected an evil-smelling reddish fluid com- 

 posed of the semi-digested remains of crustaceans of the genus Euphausia. It was 

 extremely disagreeable to the collector to receive it in his face when peering over a 

 ledge, and the odour of it was found to cling to clothes for a very long time. The birds 

 can squirt this fluid with great precision for a distance of six or eight feet. They did 

 not leave their nests readily, and even allowed themselves to be captured while sitting. 

 The pure white eggs seemed very large for the size of the bird. 



On December 3rd three more eggs were obtained. There were six nests on the ledge 

 where they were found, but three of them were empty. On the following day about 

 two dozen eggs were taken on the cliffs under Mount Ramsay, and on the 5th some 

 fifty eggs were found on the cliffs on the east side of Jessie Bay. The birds seemed 

 to be of a sociable nature, for several were frequently found nesting near to each other 

 on the same ledge, but isolated nests were not uncommon. 



The work of collecting the eggs of this species proved to be such an unpleasant 

 business, owing to its nasty methods of defence already alluded to, that a long ski-pole 

 was used. With this the birds were pushed off their nests, and the eggs secured with- 

 out the captor being defiled. When thus removed they took short flights, and then 

 alighted near the nest. Both birds were often found sitting side by side (one on the 

 nest and the mate close alongside) and cooing and clucking to each other, though not 

 to the same extent as during the month previous, when courtship was in full swing. 



On December 12th more eggs were procured from the locality in which they were 

 obtained on the 5th, and the nests robbed on that day, though still empty, were covered 

 by sitting birds. On January 13th, 1904, a fresh egg marked on December 2nd was 

 found chipped, so that the period of incubation was not less than forty-two days. On 

 January 18th a chick five days old was taken for a skin, and young birds were still in 

 down on February 5th, after which date the state of the ice did not permit of further 

 observations being made ere the Expedition left for the far south. 



It was noted that before laying its eggs this petrel sits close on the nest for about 

 a month, and it was also observed that it entirely disappeared from its nesting-haunts 

 for some ten days before the first eggs were laid. 



The eggs vary from oval to elongate-ovate in form. Taking two extreme forms, I 

 find their dimensions to work out as follows : Oval type, 56'5 x 43 mm. ; elongate- 

 ovate type, 67'2 x 43'3 mm. The average of a large number of specimens is 62'35 x 

 43'11 mm. The length varies from 56'5 to 67'2 mm., and the breadth from 46'5 to 

 40'5 mm. 



In 1904 the first eggs were laid on December 3rd, or one day later than in the 

 previous year (Klossman). 



The numerous nests found were placed either on ledges of cliffs, or, though these 

 were few, in hollows in the earth and among small stones on steep scree-slopes, and all 

 were quite open. These are noteworthy facts, for the nests (containing young) found 



