146 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



a lixed date for laying, namely, the 27th 

 November. A few eggs may be found on 

 the 26th, and a late bird may lay on th"" 

 28th, but by the 4th of December every 

 burrow contains an egg. By the way, this 

 egg is very palatable, the albumen being 

 rather like that of a duck-egg, and the 

 yolk very pale yellow ; there is no trace of 

 a fishy flavour. The Penguins also had 

 more fresh egg)i, and from observations 

 taken over the last fifteen years I have 

 come to the conclusion that this bird 

 breeds practically all the year round. 



Near Cabbage Tree Island there is a 

 high islet called Boondeldah or Big Island. 

 It required several attempts before I was 

 able to effect a landing on this islet, the 

 cliff being , steep all round except at one 

 point where a basalt dyke through the 

 porphyry has weathered away, leaving a 

 narrow gully into which we ran our 

 dinghy, dragging it up out of reach of 

 the surf. The climb up this gully was 

 somewhat strenuous, but on reaching the 

 top we were rewai'ded by seeing the most 

 densely crowded "rookery" of the Wedge- 

 tailed Shearwaters on the coast. Many 

 of the birds had been unable to secure 

 sufficient soil to burrow in, and had laid 



their eggs on the bare rock or under the 

 shelter of a little bush. These birds sat 

 quite unmoved as we passed by. 



On this memorable December trip I also 

 visited Shark Island, near the Port 

 Stephens lighthouse, and several islands 

 inside the Port. On Sclniapper Island I 

 found a huge Naiikeen Night Heronry, 

 hundreds of birds having nested in the 

 native plum trees. T was later informed 

 tliat a party of sportsmen (?) from Nel- 

 son's Bay had paid a visit to this island 

 and brought away a boatload of dead 

 birds, which it may be added are useless 

 for food or ornament. 



My furthest north trip was to Coff's 

 Harbour, and here the Wedge-tailed 

 Shearwaters were the only seabirds found 

 breeding on Coff's or Mutton Bird Island. 

 As this island is to be joined up to the 

 mainland to form a harbour, the birds will 

 not long remain unmolested. 



Full accounts of these trips were pub- 

 lished by me in the pages of the "Emu," 

 the organ of the Royal Australasian Or- 

 nithologists' Union, to the file of which I 

 would refer any reader desiring a more 

 detailed narrative. 



A specimen of the curious Ribbon Fisli 

 (Traclij/pterus jacJisnnem^is) was recent- 

 ly cauglit at Middle Harbour, Port Jack- 

 son, and secured for the collection ; a 

 fine cast has been prepared for exhibi- 

 tion in the gallery. Its 1)ody is a bright 

 silvery colour, the skin studded with 

 numerous bony tubercles, and the fins a 

 pale pink. It is six feet three inches 

 long, thirteen inches deep, and only two 

 inches in thickness, this curious shape 

 suggesting its vernacular name. Only 

 two specimens definitely identified as 

 Trachypterus jacksonensis have been 

 previously recorded, one the type, from 

 Manly, the other from Milton, N.S. 

 Wales, which unfortunately was not pre- 

 served. Ribbon Fishes undergo remark- 

 able changes with growth, the young be- 

 ing quite unlike the adults. They are 

 probably inhabitants of deep water 

 where their broad fragile bodies and fins 



are less liable to injury than in the per- 

 turbed waters of lesser depths. When 

 first observed this latest specimen was 

 swinmiino- with an undvdating motion. 



Mr. J. J. Fletcher, M.A., B.Sc, Trus- 

 tee, has presented a valuable collection 

 of over four hundred specimens of amphi- 

 bians, including co-types and other speci- 

 mens described by him some years ago 

 in the Proceedings of the Linnean 

 Society of New South ^Vales. 



The June excursion of the Naturalists' 

 Society of New South Wales was held 

 in the Museum. About thirty members 

 attended, and spent an instructive and 

 enjoyable afternoon inspecting the vari- 

 ous collections under the guidance of 

 Messrs. W. W. Thorpe and F. A. Mc- 

 Neill. 



