180 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



made by the lizard, and were two or three feet long leadmg into a 

 chamber one foot and a-half long and half a foot high ; here each 

 builds its nest ; the lizard almost always talcing the right side of 

 this little chamber and the Petrel the left ; and the lizard sits with 

 its head close to the entrance to show fight to any enemy that puts 

 in an appearance, and if a hand or stick is put near the entrance 

 the lizard will '' go for it" with all the savage pluck of a fighting 

 bull terrier, and defends himself and his little feathered friend to the 

 last. The tuatara lizard feeds partly on worms and beetles and 

 partly on the remnants of fishes and crustaceans brought home by the 

 Petrel, and thus both animals are benefitted by this curious 

 partnership, and I doubt not that during the time it lasts, they 

 are able to understand each other's language, whether it is carried 

 on as in the case of Coleopterous and Hymenopterous insects by 

 means of touch, (through the antennge), or by sounds issuing from 

 the bronchial tubes or thorax. 



As might be supposed, there are not half the number of Petrels 

 met with on the l^ew Zealand coast, as are met with on the coasts 

 of the Australian continent, but the Stormy, the Cape, the Short- 

 tailed and the Diving are common on both, while on the coast of 

 Tasmania a very large proportion of those found on the Australian 

 coast are met with. 



There is a great deal yet to be learnt about this interesting family 

 of birds, but as so many of them keep far from the main continents 

 of land, and only visit islands rarely touched at by man, choosing 

 the most desolate, barren and solitary of them for their breeding- 

 grounds, the time may yet be far distant before we become 

 acquainted with the habits of some of those that frequent the great 

 Antarctic circle. I remember well that some thirty-two years ago 

 I was as far south off Cape Horn as 65° and amongst the ice, and 

 at that time shot some Snow-white Petrels that I have never 

 seen since, either in the British or other Museums, nor in private 

 collections; and I also remember that these birds had the most 

 beautiful pink coral red eyes, and were about the size of a turtle 

 dove; and the captain of the vessel who had sailed much in 

 " high latitudes'' said he had never seen them before. 



Having I fear made this paper already too long, I will now 

 conclude it with half a dozen lines by the poet Montgomery, which 

 1 think refer to many species of Petrel, as much as to any members 

 of the great and interesting feathered tribe. 



Birds the free tenants of earth, air, and ocean, 



Their forms all sj^mmetry, their motions grace; 



In plumage delicate and beautiful, 



Thick without burden, close as fishes scales, 



Or loose as full blown poppies on the gale; 



With wings that seem as they'd a soul within them, 



They bear their owners with such sweet enchantment. 



