Aves.] SUBANTARCTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 565 



Though this bird is so common and well known, its egg had not been described 

 until the Scottish Expedition discovered the birds breeding on Laurie Island, in the 

 South Orkneys, in 1904. 



The Cape pigeon is said to breed on the western Snares, but we had no oppor- 

 tunity of verifying the statement. An effort was made to investigate the shores, 

 but as we approached the land a heavy fog was encountered, which rendered further 

 progress unwise. 



Hutton and Drummond* write, " The Cape pigeon evidently breeds on the 

 Snares, Auckland, and Antipodes Islands, as large numbers may be seen there in 

 the summer." 



Captain Bollons informs me that sealers assure him that Cape pigeons breed 

 in myriads on the western Snares, and that they have eaten their eggs in hundreds. 

 He has never been in the vicinity during the breeding season when the sea was suffi- 

 ciently calm to enable him to land on the wild and rocky coast. 



Hub. — Southern seas, Snares, Auckland, Antipodes, and Chatham Islands. 



Prion, Lacepede, 1799. 

 ? Prion banksii, Gould. (Whale-bird.) 



PachjftUa banksii. Smith, 111. Zool. S. Africa, Birds, 1840, pi. Iv. 



As the vessel approached the various islands visited, numbers of birds rose from 

 the water, noticeable among them being species of Prion. 



On the evening of the day on which we pitched our camp at the Auckland Islands 

 we noticed some pale-coloured birds flying close to us in the moonlight, but as silently 

 as owls. Next morning we discovered that the whole of the peat along the coast- 

 line was riddled with holes, whence proceeded a crooning kind of sound. After 

 several failures in attempting to reach the end of a burrow I succeeded in securing 

 the tenant or owner. It was a whale-bird, and was identified with the noiseless 

 flier of the previous night. On subsequent examination this bird proves to be Prion 

 banhsi or P. vittatus, Gmelin, the two species being difficult of determination. We 

 afterwards unearthed others, all adult birds. They apparently occupy the burrows 

 both day and night, long before the laying season, possibly to establish and main- 

 tain their claim to certain coveted nesting-sites. 



In his account of this species Dr. Edward A. Wilsonf writes, " On Shoe Island, 

 one of the Auckland Islands, we found the ground covered with the bones of Prion 

 banksi, and honeycombed with the burrows of some petrel. We could not satisfy 

 ourselves as to which species they belonged, for the nesting season was over. The 

 arch-enemy of this bird is evidently the quail-hawk, Nesierax aucklandicus, but 

 probably numbers fall victims to the rapacious Catharacta antarctica, so abundantly 

 common in that locality." From my observations I very strongly doubt if the 

 quail-hawk is chiefly responsible for the destruction of Prion banksii, remains of 

 which strew parts of the main island, and also of Disappointment Island, in com- 

 pany with those of species of Puffinus, Oestrelata, &c. 



Time after time we disturbed the skuas at their dinners, a subject I have men- 

 tioned under Catharacta, but never did we see the hawk in such situations. It was 



* Hutton and Drummond, " Animals of New Zealand," 1904, p. 252. 

 t AVilson, he. cit , p. 107. 



