On a Visit to Babel Island. 509 



XXVIII. — A Visit to Babel Island, the Nesting-place of 

 Puffiuus teuuirostris brevicaudus Gould. By C. F. Cole. 



[Tlie followiug account of the Mutton Bird rookery by Mr. C. F. Cole 

 lias been communicated by Mr. G. M. Mathews, M.B.O.U.] 



Last year^ on Noveinber 23, with eleven other members of 

 the Royal Australasian Ornithologists' Union, I visited Babel 

 Island, Probably the largest Mutton Bird rookery in the 

 Southern Hemisphere is upon this island. It is one of the 

 Furneau group, lying some two and a half miles oft' the east 

 coast of Flinders Island, situated in the Bass Strait between 

 the mainland of Australia and Tasmania. These islands are 

 under the control of the Tasmanian Government. 



During the birding-season 1913, I am told that some 

 500,000 birds were killed, cured, and exported from this 

 island, principally by the half -cast aboriginal population 

 inhabiting Barren Island and adjacent islands in the Strait. 

 The site selected by these birds for nesting purposes is a 

 peak rising some hundreds of feet above sea-level. The 

 larger portion of the rookery faces the west and south- 

 west. The nature of the soil upon this island is chiefly a 

 loose gritty sand, easily scratched out by the birds. The 

 rookery is covered, particularly in the higher portions, with 

 a tough tussocky grass common to the islands of Bass 

 Strait. 



On the west and south-west sides, where the ground 

 starts to slope upwards, the rookery begins towards the 

 base, extending right to the top and around the peak, 

 the ground being honeycombed with countless bi'eeding 

 burrows. After an early tea, and everything being made 

 snug for our night's stay, the lower portion of the rookery 

 was visited and numerous burrows examined ; the result 

 being that many contained fresh eggs, no doubt deposited 

 during the previous night. 



Having collected sufficient eggs for breakfast, and the 

 sun having dipped below the horizon, the attention of 

 members present was turned towards the first incoming 



