yA White, An Ornithological Cruise. [2nd"oct. 



skin around eye scarlet ; bill flesh colour, tip black ; feet yellowish- 

 pink, niiils black. No. i, ^ — length, g^" ; wing, jf" ; stretch, tip to 

 tip, i6|-". No. 2, $ — length, 6f " ; wing, 7|" ; stretch, tip to tip, 17". 

 Stomach contents — grit, thousands of small mollusca, part of a beetle. 

 Temperature, 107° F. 



Limnocinclus acuminatus {Pisobia acuminata). Sharp-tailed Stint. 

 — Seen at Troubridge Light. 



Hypoleucus fuscescens {Phalacrocovax souldi). While-breasted 

 Cormoi-ant.* — Not many birds were seen this trip ; no doubt they 

 were nesting. 



Hypoleucus varius hypoleucus {P/ia/acrocorax liypo/eucus). Eastern 

 Pied Cormorant. — Seen all through the trip ; more plentiful in the 

 upper part of the Gulf. Observations made on specimens taken 

 were: — No. i, (^ — stomach contents, large leatherjacket. No. 2, 9 — 

 stomach contents, fish bones and molluscs, identified by Dr. J. C. 

 Verco as follows, ten in number, and are : — (i) Thalotia conica, Gray, 

 whole and fresh ; (2) Thalotia conica, a fragment, bleached ; (3) 

 Phasianella pervix, Wood, broken and much worn ; (4) Modilaria 

 impacfa, Herman, one valve, brittle, and not fresh ; (5) Mesodernia 

 glahrella, Lamarck, one valve, fresh ; (6) Chione corrtigata, Lamarck, 

 one valve, worn through and soft ; (7, 8, 9, 10) Paphia galactites, 

 Lamarck, four valves, separate, and none corresponding — three fresh 

 and one not fresh. That none of the bivalve species have the two 

 valves of any individual suggests that none of these was swallowed 

 alive. Two of the valves are plainly partly disintegrated, and have 

 long been dead. The Phasianella is an old shell, and so is the 

 fragment of Thalotia conica. The only specimen which may have 

 been swallowed alive is the Thalotia conica. This proves the birds 

 do not swallow these shell-fish as food. It has been suggested by 

 some that these shells mav have been swallowed by fish as food, and 

 the fish having been digested in the Cormorant's stomach, the shells 

 remained. In mv opinion this is not at all likely, for the whole, 

 unbroken condition of the large bivalves, and the condition of the 

 rest as regards freshness, plainly points to the fact that they were 

 not swallowed by any fish as food. It may be that the shells are 

 swallowed as an aid to digestion. I pointed this out at a meeting of 

 the Royal Society of South Australia, but the president. Dr. J. C. 

 Verco, said — "The shells seem rather large and unsuitable to be 

 purposely swallowed as an aid to digestion, like the small pebbles 

 swallowed by fowls." Then, against that, in another part of this 

 paper it is shown that a Cormorant's stomach contained granite 

 stones to the weight of 2^ ozs., which, I feel sure, must have been 

 deliberately swallowed to help to triturate its food. No. 3, o — stomach 

 contents, two flathead and fish-bones. 



Morus serrata dyotti {Sula aiisfralis). Australian Gannet. — Birds 

 were seen nearly every day. They were nearly always hunting over 

 the water in a solitary manner. 



Catoptropelicanus c. conspicillatus {Pelecanus conspicillaftis). 

 Eastern Pelican. — A dozen or more birds were seen on Pelican Point, 

 in the Port River, when we were returning. 



Pandion haliaetus cristatus (P. leucocephalus). White-headed Osprey. 



* This bird should be called the "Black-faced Cormorant," for three species 

 liave white breasts. — S. A. W. 



