THE ZooLocist—J UNE, 1875. 4487 
Strait, we observed another specimen: it had been blowing a 
furious gale on the day before. 
Molly-mawk (Diomedea melanophrys, Boie).—An egg of this 
sea-fowl, from the Auckland Isles, is white, with a few small rusty 
marks; ovoi-conical in form. It measures four inches four lines in 
length, with a breadth of two inches ten lines. 
Lestris catarractes, Q. and G.—An egg of this species, brought 
by Mr. H. Travers from the Chatham Isles, is ovoi-conical in 
form; the colour is olivaceous-brown, blotched and dotted with 
dark brown: it measures three inches in length, with a breadth of 
two inches one line. 
Large Gull (Larus dominicanus, Licht.).—In certain localities 
the habits of our large gull seem so peculiar as to deserve some 
notice. About the Sounds it is apparently far less gregarious than 
it is usually found to be on our eastern shores. Has the custom of 
flocking together been abandoned, or is it yet unacquired? Fish 
is as abundant on the western side as it is here, so that any diffi- 
culty in the food supply does not seem to be the cause of different 
habits. It breeds solitarily on little islets, stumps or roots of 
stranded trees. The nests are large, substantial structures, showing 
a degree of labour and care in their construction which is not 
matched by the birds on our side of the island. Some found by 
the writer, in Milford Sound, were large nests formed of a vast 
variety of materials, and so solidly built that they were brought 
away without the least damage. The young keep to the nest for 
some time, lying on the broad walls basking in the sun; from the 
castings we found they were fed on young mussels, &c. These 
gulls prey on the young of other birds,—such, for instance, as 
those of the teal,—which are swallowed at a gulp. 
Sierna alba, Potts.—The white tern seen by the writer on the 
Ashburton, and described by him in the ‘ Transactions of the New 
Zealand Institute’ (vol. iii.}, is quietly placed by Dr. Buller with 
8. nereis, to which he gives the name of the “little white tern.” 
This fine white tern was seen on the Waitangi River by the Hon. 
G. Buckley and others. Last month (November 20) a pair were 
seen flying up and down the course of that great river. It is satis- 
factory to be able to record a second notice of the occurrence of 
this bird in the breeding season. 
QaH.Ports. 
