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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Pierced Rock, South Tollgate Island. 



Basset Hull. 



the Narooma lifeboat after half an hour 

 of perching on the upturned boat in the 

 surf. 



About 40 miles north of Montagne 

 Island the Tollgate Islands lie oft Bate- 

 man's Bay. There are two islets, high 

 and steep, separated by a narrow strait. 

 Each islet presents an almost sheer rocky 

 face to the sea, and sloijes rather abruptly 

 to the landward side, whei-e the beach 

 renders landing easy in calm weather. On 

 the southern islet there is a pierced rock 

 jutting out from a sandspit. On these 

 two islets I found Little Penguins, Wedgo- 

 tailed Shearwaters, and White-faced 

 Storm Petrels (Pelagodroma marina) 

 breeding, the last named species in small 

 numbers only. The Penguins had eggs, 

 fresh and heavily incubated, or young- 

 birds in varying stages of growth. The 

 Shearwaters had been working on their 

 burrows, but had not started laying. 

 There were large numbers of these bur- 

 rows in the sandy soil on top of the 

 islets; probably some thousands of birds 

 breed there annually. There were traces 

 of another burrowing bird, the burrows 

 being short and untenanted. There is 

 possibly a colony of Prions breeding late 

 in the year. 



Northward again from the Tollgates 

 for a distance of 15 miles brings one to 

 Brush Island. This island I visited by 

 way of Nowra, Milton, and LTUadulla, tak- 

 ing a launch from the latter port for the 

 15 mile trip south. On the way down I 

 met with the Fluttering Petrel (Puffinus 

 gavia) in fairly It^rge numbers. The birds 

 secured were of such a different colour to 



the illustrations and descriptions of this 

 species that I gave a new name to the 

 Ulladulla bird {Emii, vol. xv., p. 206), 

 The bright colour, however, faded some- 

 what, and intermediate shades from blue 

 to brown having been recorded, my new 

 name sinks into a synonym. 



Brush or Murramurang Island lies 

 barely half a mile off Murramurang 

 H ead, an jakl-time camping ground of the 

 aborigines, with one of the most extensive 

 kitchen middens on the coast. It is long 

 find narrow, about 80 acres in extent, 

 slightly elevated in the centre, and thickly 

 covered with sheoaks, honeysuckles, small 

 gums, and scrubby undergrowth. The 

 Penguins occupied many burrows along 

 the shore and in crevices of the rocks 

 almost within reach of the surf. The 

 nests contained either fresh eggs or young 

 birds, incubated eggs or big, pot-bellied 

 chickens, with a mere collar of down left 

 to di.-tinguish them from their' parents. 

 Above the line occupied by the Penguins 

 were hundreds of burrows of the Wedge- 

 tailed Shearwater, each containing a bird 

 sitting on a fresh egg of pure white. Both 

 on the beach at Ulladulla and in the water 

 on the way down I had noted numerous 

 dead Short-tailed Shearwaters {Puffinus 

 t^nvArostris) , better known as the "Mut- 

 ton Birds" of Tasmania and southern 

 Victoria. On Brush Island I found many 

 of these birds, some partly eaten by 

 Hawks or Crows, some which had been 

 dead several days, and others quite re- 

 cently dead. Just above the thick scrub, 

 on a patch of sand, I found an egg', quite 

 fresh, but perforated by a pebble, as if 



