Vol. X. 

 igii 



1 Hull, Nest and Egg of CEs^trelata leucoptera. 255 



I came to a steep gully, evidently forming a watercourse in wet 

 weather, strewn with loose boulders and smaller stones. Large 

 cabbage palms grew here in abundance, and there were masses 

 of dead fronds lying underneath the trees. Stumbling over this 

 debris, we heard a shrill cry, like the sounds " Peep, peep " 

 rapidly repeated several times, and a small bluish-grey bird 

 fluttered out from under the dead fronds, and half-flew, half- 

 waddled down the gully towards the shore. It soon became 

 entangled in the vines, and upon being captured proved to be 

 CEstrelata leucoptera, Gld. Further search revealed several 

 more birds, all of which uttered their cry upon hearing our 

 footsteps. Some were discovered hidden in deep crevices 

 amongst the loose stones, and in one case two birds were 

 together. Careful search failed to disclose any sign of eggs, but, 

 upon dissection, two females taken showed signs of an early 

 intention of laying. The day was then nearly done, so after 

 taking several Penguins, adult and young, and eggs, we returned 

 to Nelson's Bay. Early the next morning we returned to the 

 island, having first made an ineffectual attempt to land on 

 Boondelbah Island, and Mr. Hedley and I ascended to the top 

 of Cabbage Tree Island, taking the gully route. It was a fairly 

 stiff" climb of about 500 feet, but the view from the top was 

 ample reward for the exertion. The seaward side fell away 

 almost perpendicularly to the ocean, and a few tussocks clinging 

 to the cliff showed signs of Mutton-Birds' tracks. A rocky 

 platform on the summit was burrowed in all directions, and 

 amongst the stones were many early arrivals of the Picffinus 

 sphenurus, which greeted us with their melancholy wails. 



Very {q.\v CEstrelatas were seen towards the top, so we 

 abandoned the search and returned home. 



On the 30th October we again visited Cabbage Tree Island, 

 the Messrs. Robert and Henry Grant, taxidermists to the 

 Australian Museum, accompanying us. On this occasion Henry 

 Grant found an CEstrelata in a deep crevice under the rocks 

 amongst the Penguins. He extracted the bird, and saw what he 

 took to be a young bird in the recesses of the crevice, but was 

 unable to get it out. On visiting the gully again, we found a 

 larger number of the Petrels, mostly in pairs, sitting on nests 

 formed of masses of fragments of dead cabbage palm fronds, 

 but no eggs had been laid. Curiously enough, the female birds 

 examined showed no signs of laying in the immediate future. 

 The weather appearing to threaten a change, we returned to 

 port, and spent the remainder of the day in obtaining specimens 

 of the land-birds, procuring Coracina lineata, TropidorJiynchus 

 corniculattis, Malurus lainberti, and others. 



I then decided to give the Petrels a month to make up their 

 minds to lay, and on the 4th December last, my brother, Mr. 

 W. D. Hull, Mr. Thos. P. Austin, of Cobborah, and I went up 



