Mr JLarvk-Browns Farther Notes on North Bona. 291 



spades in the house. These we found and used, but the 

 crowbar would have been very useful, although heavy to 

 carry up. Tlie steward, one of the crew, and our pilot 

 (Norman Macleod, who also was with Swinburne) accom- 

 panied us, and we drew the boat up high and dry on the 

 rocks. 



We made direct for the Fork-tailed petrels' breeding-place 

 among the ruins of the old village, and worked nearly 

 an hour and a half at excavating the Petrel's eggs, but were 

 not quite so successful as Mr Swinburne, who obtained 

 rather more specimens than we did. Amongst the Petrels 

 were three Stormy petrels, which we caught in the holes, 

 but they did not appear to have eggs. We kept these as 

 specimens, along with seven examples of Fork-tailed petrels 

 each caught on its own egg. The others we let away, and I 

 tossed several up in the air in order to observe the flight. 

 It was very curious in the broad daylight — strange, graceful, 

 zig-zag, uncertain, wavering ; part bat-like or butterfly-like, 

 part swallow-like or pratincoline, part snipe-like, if I may 

 be allowed to attach so many adjectives. They flew first in 

 circles round their breeding haunt, and in a few seconds 

 made away down the slopes towards the sea, the light- 

 coloured pale smoky coverts showing to great advantage be- 

 side the other dark plumage, and the white tail-spot very 

 handsome and distinct. I should have liked to toss up the 

 Stormy petrels also, in order to compare the flight of the two 

 species, but as I only obtained one, and did not feel sure 

 that the species had been previously recorded from North 

 Kona, I preferred keeping the specimen. 



The single eggs of each bird lay at the extreme end of the 

 tunnellings, deep amongst the stones and sea-pink-covered 

 turf- walls of the long-since desolated village. Our men, as 

 well as ourselves, worked heartily with the spades, but we 

 took with our own hands all the eggs except four. In one 

 hole only did we find two birds with the single egg. 



The ruins are on the southern slope of the island, as shown 

 on the sketch, and are of considerable extent, surrounded by 

 a large number of old cultivated patches of land, showing 

 the "lazy-bed" method of potato-cultivation, but now covered 



