286 Dr. P. H. Bahr : Notes on the 



more interesting still were several flocks of the curious 

 Musk-Duck (Biziura lobata). lu the town of Melbourne 

 itself the Indian Mynah is the commonest bird; there are 

 also great numbers of Sparrows and Starlings, and in the 

 public gardens Thrushes and Blackbirds abound. Amongst 

 these exotic birds I managed to pick out a few Australian 

 species, the Laughing Jackass {Dacelo gigas), the Nankeen 

 Night-Heron {Nydicorux c ale do ulcus), and the Sombre 

 Gallinule {GaUinuln tenebrosa). 



After leaving Melbourne and passing through Bass 

 Straits I made the acquaintance of two Giant Petrels [Ossi- 

 fraga gigantea) ; these were easily distinguished from the 

 Sooty Albatross, which they somewhat resembled in size, by 

 their peculiar flight and the conspicuous fleshy tint of their 

 bills. After following the ship for a short time they took 

 themselves off. A small Petrel [Prion arid) now became 

 common ; the flight is extraordinarily rapid and rivals that 

 of the Mutton Bird. 



After leaving Adelaide on Christmas Day 1909, and until 

 we arrived in Sydney Harbour, a number of Skuas had been 

 following the ship and disputing the offal in the wake with 

 the Albatrosses. Their shape, form, variable plumage, and 

 elongated tail-feathers were all familiar to me ; they were 

 none other than Richardson's Skua (^Stercorarius crepidatus) . 

 This species has been reported from New Zealand, but I 

 could obtain no confirmation of its occurrence in Australia * 

 in the Sydney Museum, and it was said there that the 

 Pomatorhine species {S. pomatorhinus) had never been seen 

 south of Queensland. 



In Sydney itself little native bird-life can be seen in the 

 public parks ; the English Sparrow flourishes to the exclusion 

 of everything else. Some typically Australian species still, 

 however, exist there, amongst which the White-eye (Zos- 

 ierops lateralis) and the Blue Wren (Malurus australis) were 

 special favourites of mine. 



• I have been kindly informed by Mr. Gregory Mathews that be has 

 received a skin of this Skua from Chatham Island, though he has no 

 specimens from South Australia. It has been recoi'ded in the Australian 

 list since 1883. 



