400 



Islands, and has once occurred on the coast of North America, and once in Great Britain, one 

 having, according to Mr. A. H. Macpherson (Ibis, 1891, p. 602), been washed up dead on the 

 outside of Walney Island, after a severe gale, in November 1890. 



In the Canaries it breeds regularly ; and Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who took its eggs on the 

 Salvages, has brought back many specimens from there. On the American coasts of the Atlantic, 

 according to Mr. Ridgway (Auk, ii. p. 386), one was captured on board the U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion Steamer 'Albatross,' on the 2nd September, 1885, in lat. 40° 34' 18" N., long. 66° 09' W., 

 having been probably attracted by the light, and fell on the deck, from which it seemed unable 

 to rise. Mr. O. V. Aplin (Ibis, 1894, p. 212) believes that he saw one on the 10th June about 

 113 knots from Monte Video, and it was first noticed during Captain Cook's first voyage, and 

 a specimen obtained on the 23rd December, 1768, in lat. 37° S., off the east coast of South 

 America, about opposite the mouth of the Eio de la Plata. 



In the southern seas, Sir Walter L. Buller writes (B. of N. Zeal. p. 321), " it appears to 

 have a wide range. It is not so plentiful, however, off the New Zealand coast as Thalassidroma 

 melanogaster, although the habits of the two birds appear to be precisely alike." 



Gould (Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 482), who met with it off the Australian coast, writes that 

 *' numerous individuals in my own collection were obtained in Australia. Gilbert discovered it 

 breeding on some of the small islands lying off Cape Leuwin in December, where he procured 

 numbers of its eggs, as well as many examples of the adult birds ; he also met with it on a small 

 island about three miles south of East Wallaby Island in January, by which time the young birds 

 were almost ready to leave their holes." Mr. H. O. Forbes (Ibis, 1893, p. 542) records it as 

 breeding in the Chatham Islands, and describes its eggs ; but the best, and in fact the only 

 detailed, account of its nesting-habits is that by Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who writes (Ibis, 1896, 

 p. 51) as follows: — " We first observed and recognized with pleasure these beautiful Petrels as 

 we neared the Salvages, when numbers were seen flitting along close to the surface of the sea, 

 with their long legs dangling beneath them and just touching the water. Now they would be 

 lost sight of in the hollows between the huge Atlantic rollers, now reappear, closely following 

 the undulating waters with their graceful easy flight. On the afternoon of our arrival on Great 

 Salvage we found an egg of this bird in what we at first mistook for a rabbit-burrow, but it was 

 unfortunately broken by one of the men. This, however, opened our eyes, and we subsequently 

 found that large colonies of the White-breasted Petrel were breeding on the flat top of the island, 

 in burrows dug out in the sandy ground, and partly concealed by the close-growing ice-plant. It 

 was very unpleasant walking over these breeding-grounds, which occupied considerable areas, 

 for the ground was honeycombed with burrows in every direction, and gave way at each step, 

 one's boots rapidly becoming full of sand. By thrusting one's arm into one hole after another, 

 we soon procured a fine series of specimens, accompanied in most cases by an egg, for we had 

 evidently hit off the breeding-season, and most of the birds, having laid their single egg, were 

 beginning to sit. Most of the eggs were white, more or less finely spotted, and often zoned 

 towards the larger end, with dark red and purplish dots, but some few were equally spotted all 

 over the shell, while one was almost devoid of markings. In shape they vary considerably, some 

 being perfect ovals equally round at both ends, while others are slightly pointed at the one 

 end (cf. Forbes, Ibis, 1893, p. 542). Both sexes take part in incubation, for out of twelve birds 



