THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



47 



ever, and they either lloundered around 

 us, or even tried to pass between us. 



Soon they reached their burrows, and 

 we heard out of tlie darkness the most 

 heart-rending cries and wailings as 

 though a hundred lost souls were be- 

 moaning their fate. We were told that 

 this is merely the mother bird's invita- 

 tion to lu'r offspring to come out of the 

 burrow to be fed, and certainly the 

 wailing wa^^ often rudely interrupted, 

 as though the baby birds liad forced 

 their hungry bills deep down into their 

 mothers' throats. But there was not 

 light enough to see what was happen- 

 ing, and only the awful cries of the 

 birds everywhere in the scrub indicate! i 

 their presence all around us. On the 

 seaward sides of these extensi\e breed- 

 ing grounds we observed "runs" through 

 the grass and undergrowth which led 

 to slopes from which tlie birds take 

 fliglit. As their long wings prevent 

 them from rising from the ground, they 

 have to spi'ing from a sloping face into 

 the air. All sucli slopes are therefore 

 reached by well defined tracks formed by 

 the constant passage of the birds from 

 the forest to the sea. Such tracks may 

 be trampled clear of all growths for a 

 distance of twenty yards or more, and 

 they end abrui>tly at the taking-oft" 

 point. 



How does a Mutton-bird find its own 

 particular nest? Even when circling 

 rapidly over the palm forest each nmsc 

 surely find some little difficulty in locat- 

 ing the i^articular area in wliieh its 

 burrow is situated, and after dropping 

 down into the pitchy darkness, it nuist 

 have trouble in distinguishing its own 

 burrow from the others everywhere 

 around. The observation of environ- 

 ment and sense of direction must be 

 perfectly developed in these birds. 

 When we remember tliat they spend 

 the day in the glaring sunshine on the 

 open ocean, feeding and collecting food 

 for their young, and know that tliey 

 find their way after dark through the 

 thickest forest to their nests, "'we can only 

 marvel at the greatly developed faculties 

 wliicli enable them to carry out both 

 equally well. 



Having fed their young, the parent 

 birds are supposed to rest during the 

 night and make off' to sea again at 

 dawn, the young being generally, if not 

 always, left alone during the day. 

 About April, the young birds are cover- 

 ed with a wealth of bluish-grey down, 

 which is so plentiful as to make them 

 appear larger than their parents. At 

 this time they become very fat, and 

 many are collected by the residents for 

 table purposes. 



standing upon Malabar Head, one looks south ward over the greater part of Lord Howe Island. 



Photo — A. R. McCulloch. 



