Vol. xvi.-j WyfiTK, An Ornithological Cruise. yy 



knows for a fact that the Pacific Gulls carry up the large shells 

 Turbo sf amine us, and drop them upon the bare rocks. Capt. 

 Randall also states that these Gulls can lift a far greater weight 

 than the shells mentioned, for he has seen one lift an octopus 

 from the water over double the weight of the largest Turbo 

 stamineus. Again, 1 have had a visit from Mr. Ellison Rowc, 

 the second in command of the Althorpe lighthouse, and he states 

 that he has frequently seen the Pacific Gulls carrying up the shells 

 in question and letting them drop upon the rocks, and if they did 

 not break the first time the shell was picked up and dropped 

 again. Mr. Ellison Rowe tells me he spends much of his time 

 when off duty at the base of the cliffs fishing, and that he has often 

 watched these birds procuring food from the shell-fish in the very 

 clever way already mentioned. I am hoping to see the Gulls 

 some day at the work myself, but there is no doubt in my mind 

 about this matter. 



An Investigation Concerning the Food of Cormorants* 



By (Capt.) S. A. White, M.B.O.U., President R.A.O.U. 



On 24th March, 1916, Messrs. A. G. and E. S. Rymill put to sea 

 in their yacht, the Avocet, this time to assist ornithological research 

 by investigating the Cormorant rookeries in the mangrove creeks 

 to the north of Port Adelaide. Towards sunset on Friday, the 

 24th March, we slipped our moorings at Port Adelaide and 

 steamed down the river to the Outer Harbour, where the anchor 

 was let go in 3 fathoms of water. The party consisted of our 

 sailing master, Messrs. A. G. and E. S. Rymill (who looked after 

 the engines), Mrs. A. G. Rymill and son, the writer and his 

 wife, in addition to the steward, the latter a very important 

 member of the party. 



After breakfast next morning three of us put off in the dinghy 

 and collected some cockles on the sand-spit ; these were for l)ait, 

 in case fish were plentiful. Heaving the anchor, we steamed 

 along the coast for about 18 or 20 miles till we reached a shallow 

 area called " The Flats." The tide was out, so we anchored over 

 weed in 1 1 fathoms. While waiting for the tide to come in (as 

 it was impossible to get up the creeks at low tide), the time was 

 spent trying to catch fish ; toad-fish and trumpeter seemed the 

 only members of the finny tribe about. We lay about a mile off 

 the mangroves. Outside these some mud-banks were showing up, 

 and here a number of Black Swans were seen. A few Cormorants, 

 all Hypoletiais variiis hypoleucus, flew by on their way to the 

 mangroves, but they were only stragglers, and the main party 

 was still fishing in the shallow waters. When the tide turned 

 and had covered the mud-banks, we all left in the dinghy, driven 

 by a motor engine. The tide was racing up the creeks as we 

 entered, and after we had explored several creeks, with high 

 mangroves on each side, without locating the Cormorant rookery, 



