Avifauna of the Fiji Islands. 285 



wings from the radio-carpal joint. Often when the birds were 

 hanging seemingly motionless above the ship I could clearly 

 see how they adjusted their balance to every gust and eddy 

 by raising or depressing first one wing and then the other. 

 When attempting to check their flight suddenly, they have a 

 habit o£ throwing back their body weight, tilting up their 

 breasts, throwing up their tail, and spreading their great 

 paddles ; in this manner they skid over the waves for a con- 

 siderable distance. The flight of the smaller species, though 

 majestic enough, cannot be compared with that of its larger 

 relative. 



To my mind, however, the Mutton Bird possesses powers 

 of flight which compai'e very favourably with either. This 

 species seems to travel even faster than an Albatross, 

 whether with or against the wind seems to matter little, 

 and I never saw the bird settle or flap its wings. The 

 evolutions it describes must be seen to be appreciated. 

 Once I was fortunate enough to see a few individuals of the 

 Sooty Albatross (PIuKbetria fuliginosd), the Cape Pigeou 

 {Daption capensis), and the Black-bellied Storm-Petrel [Tha- 

 lassidroma melanog aster). Again, during a gale of some 

 magnitude numbers of the White-faced Storm-Petrel [Pela- 

 godroma marina) appeared dancing in front of the ship's bows. 

 Christmas Day 1909 was spent at Adelaide. Here I saw 

 the Pacific Gull {Larus pacijicus) and the Australian Gannet 

 (Sula serrator) at close quarters, in addition to the now 

 familiar Jameson's Gull and Berg's Tern. On shore English 

 birds, the Sparrow, Starling, and Goldfinch, were as abundant, 

 if not more so, than in their native land. Numbers of small 

 Plovers {^gialitis ruficapilla) were evidently nesting on the 

 waste land by the pier ; other typically Australian species 

 noted during a short day spent on shore were the Kestrel 

 {Tinnunculus cenchroides), the Square-tailed Kite {Lopho- 

 ictinia isura), and the Australian Spur- winged Plover [Lobi- 

 vanellus lobatiis). 



During a short stay of twenty-four hours at Melbourne, 

 I saw a few more birds. The small Australian Cormorant 

 (Graculus novcs-hollandia) was common in the harbour, and 



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