264



Sea and shore birds of Australia.



tarsa), more common inland in the central and western districts,

where they breed; the Crested Tern ( Sterna cristata), common in all

the bays and inlets of the coast, and breeding on Cook Island in the

north to Montague Island, which is getting towards the southern

boundary of the State; and the White-shafted Tern ( Sternula sinensis ),

found in the same situations, but more sparingly distributed, breed¬

ing in colonies on sand-pits and margins of brackish coastal lagoons.

Fairly common along the coast is the Pacific Gull ( Gabianus pacificus),

while the Silver Gull ( Larus novce-hollandice ) is in evidence in all the

bays and inlets, large colonies of them breeding on Montague Island.

In stormy weather great flocks assemble in grass paddocks contiguous

to the coast, and both species have been observed hundreds of miles

inland. The Pacific Gull is occasionally seen in Port Jackson and

on the Parramatta, and the Silver Gull frequents the shipping in Farm

Cove, on the look-out for sci’aps thrown overboard. It is the most

familiar of all species to ferry passengers in Sydney Harbour.

Between Sydney Heads and Bradley’s Head, Richardson’s Skua

(Stercorarius crepidatus) is in some years remarkably common.


The Order Tubinares is principally represented by the White¬

faced Storm Petrel ( Pelagodroma marina ), the Wedge-tailed Petrel

(Puffinus sphenurus), and the Short-tailed Petrel (P. tenuirostris), the

last being the rarer of the three species, except in some years, when

it appears in countless numbers. The White-winged Petrel (. PEstre -

lata leucoptera), frequenting and breeding on Cabbage-tree Island,

near the entrance to Port Stephens, is of circumscribed range, while

the Giant Petrel ( Ossifraga gigantea ) is occasionally seen.


Although Albatrosses occasionally venture inside Sydney

Heads, and I have observed them as far up as the entrance to the

Parramatta River, New South Wales seas are not by any means a

stronghold of the genus Diomedea , and several of the substantiated

records of the occurrence of certain species on the coast are founded

on a few or single examples. They include the Black-eye-browed

Albatross ( Diomedea melanophrys), the wandering Albatross ( D.

exulans), the Shy Albatross (D. cauta), the Culminated Albatross (D.

culminata), and the Yellow-nosed Albatross ( Thalassogeron chloro-

rhynchus ).


Three species of the Order Pygopodes are generally distributed



