162 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



again into darkness as tliey flitted over ttie rookeries. They looked 

 for all the world like giant moths, and appeared as thick as flakes 

 in a snow-shower on a calm day. 



Again and again 1 caught individuals in my hands as they flew 

 past, to be released again. It was found that after being held in 

 one's hand for a few seconds and then the fingers slowly opened, 

 the birds would remain either quietly resting or poised with out- 

 stretched wings for quite an appreciable time. On suddenly 

 turning the lamp on to any bird on the ground, it was always 

 possible to pick it up without any attempt at escape on its part. 

 As to the number of birds in the various rookeries, it was impos- 

 sible to arrive at any estimate, beyond that the number must have 

 run into some thousands. Not all the birds left at dawn, for in 

 several instances pairs were found in their burrows during the day. 



Pacific Gulls are not the only enemies they have to contend 

 against on Ninth Island, for a couple of domestic cats run wild, 

 in high condition, were seen. Scores and scores of dead Storm- 

 Petrels in various stages of disruption were scattered about the 

 rookeries, and in several places among the rocks en the hill-side 

 were heaps of bones and feathers. Penguins also account for a 

 number, for they peck them as they search for their burrows, and 

 one peck means death. 



*BLACK-BELLIED STORM-PETREL 

 (Cymodroma melanogaster, Gould). 



Male. — Upper surface sooty-black, glossed with leaden-grey; 

 lower rump and upper tail coverts white ; tail black ; wing coverts 

 sooty-brown ; quills black ; throat sooty-black, shaded with grey 

 and slightly mottled with white; lower throat, chest, breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail coverts sooty-black — the last have white 

 bases ; sides of breast, abdomen, also flanks, white : bill, legs, and 

 feet black. Dimensions in mm. : — Length, 190; bill, 12; wing, 

 165 ; tail, 67 ; tarsus, 37. 



Fe-inale. — Similar to male. Some of the feathers on the back 

 however, have greyish-white fringes. 



Young. — Some of the feathers on the back have greyish-white 

 fringes ; chin more or less mottled with white ; also a few black- 

 tipped feathers on breast and abdomen. 



Nest. — Crevice in a rock. 



Eggs. — According to Dr. F. Du Cane Godman, an egg taken 

 on Kerguelen Island by the Challenger Expedition is dull white, 

 with a faint pinkish shade at one end, sprinkled with dots of the 

 same colour, which are also seen over the rest of the egg ; there is 

 a slight indication of purplish dots, which are, however, scarcely 

 perceptible; axis 1.45 in., diameter, 1.03 in. Another egg in the 

 British Museum is from Falkland Island, and two others from 

 Chatham Islands. 



