BY COL. W. V. LEGGE. R.A., F.Z.S. 133 



that there were none on the Island, as not a sign could be seen 

 of any examples flying round it. At the north end, 

 where the earth bant above the rocks is steep, and riddled 

 with nest holes, I detected the bird in question at the end of 

 a hole, and pulling her out, found an egg in the nest. I subse- 

 quently unearthed half-a-dozen birds from holes round 

 the same part of the island, so that it may be inferred that a 

 small colony were breeding there, although the probabilities 

 were that no very great number of birds would visit the island 

 at that late period. The holes were in some instances 6 feet 

 deep, and in one I found both a Penguin and a Petrel, so that 

 the latter must have appropriated the Penguin's habitation, 

 which probably, however, was originally made by the Petrel. 

 When molested in their holes they fight savagely, but do not 

 utter any noise until driven out of their nest, when they 

 utter a low querulous cry. In some nests there was a little 

 grass, in others the egg was deposited on the bare ground. 

 The egg of this Petrel is enormous for the size of the bird, 

 and is a well known article of food among the Straits 

 Islanders and people living on the coast near the bird 

 " colonies." It is white with a chalky excrescence in some 

 examples, though this is not rough like that of a Cormorant's 

 egg. Examples in my collection measure from 2*76 to 2*95 

 inches in length by V78 to 1"86 inches in breadth. A 

 bird I took from the nest proved to be a male, showing 

 that both sexes assist in the duties of incubation. The time 

 of coming on shore to breed is, I am told, the same at the 

 Friar Islands and those at the mouth of Port Davey, where 

 this Petrel breeds in great numbers, in company with the 

 Broad-billed Prion (Prion vittatus) . 



Phalacrocorax LETJcoaASTER, Gould. 



The White-breasted Cormorant was nesting in as large a 

 number as the space would admit of on the top of the 

 Blanche Eock. There were about 30 or 40 pairs there, in 

 company with a few little Gulls, which not unfrequently 

 nest in such situations. The nests of the Cormorants were 

 situated in holJows and crevices in the rock, a few strips of 

 seaweed and portions of marine plants forming the receptacle 

 for the eggs. These are three to four in number, elongated 

 ovals in shape, some almost the same at both ends, others 

 slightly pointed at one end. The primary colour is very 

 pale seagreen, but large portions of the shell are covered 

 with a chalky white layer, in some examples rough and in 

 others smooth. Fifteen examples vary from 2'23 to 2 '5 

 inches in length and 1"63 to 1-56 in breadth, A typical egg 

 measures 2'48 inches by 1*5 inches. These eggs were taken 

 by Mr. Joseph Graves on the 20th, it being too rough on the 

 occasion of my visit on the 28th to land on the rock. 



