Okder PROCELLARIIFORMES.] 



[Family PUFFINIOE. 



PUFFINUS GRISEUS. 



(MUTTON-BIRD.) 



Pufiinus griseus (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 232. 



A nestling obtained from one of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf, on the 18th of November, 

 was covered with thick down, long, extremely fine, and dark slate-grey in colour on the 

 upper parts ; shorter and thicker on the under parts ; paler grey on the sides of the body ; 

 white on the fore-neck, crop, and down the centre of the abdomen, in a broad band, to the 

 vent. 



Of this species there is a partial albino (received from the Snares) in the Auckland Museum. 

 The back is almost entirely white, and the grey plumage of the under-surface is largely mixed 

 with white. 



The late Dr. Shortland, nearly fifty years ago, published a graphic account of the " Mutton- 

 birding " operations of the Maoris in the South Island. These operations have been continued 

 annually ever since, and it is a perfect marvel that the species continues to exist, in undiminished 

 numbers, notwithstanding this wholesale slaughter. The last information I have on the subject 

 is contained in the following newspaper paragraph : " The Western Star reports the arrival of a 

 craft from the Mutton-bird Islands with the Eiverton and Colac Bay contingent, which comprised 

 seventeen families, numbering fifty individuals. The natives report that the birds were ex- 

 ceedingly numerous this season, and in splendid condition. The catch of each individual, young 

 and old, may be taken at the fair average of fifteen hundred birds, or a total of seventy- 

 five thousand for the whole of the families. The average price is about 3d. a bird, so that 

 the season's operations, when the birds are all sold, represent a total of £937 10s. Two 

 Eiverton girls are said to have made a record catch, taking four thousand two hundred birds 

 between them." 



After leaving the Bluff for Stewart's Island in the steam tug (on February 19th), I saw in 

 Foveaux Strait about a hundred Petrels, apparently of this species. They flew in company, 

 streaming out from the shore and making for the open strait. This was in broad daylight. This 

 Petrel has an even, rapid, and somewhat dove-like flight. 



At Timaru, on April 5th, 1899, I witnessed a most interesting sight. We were passing 

 through by the express train southward, and at about 3 p.m., in the soft sunshine, just after we 

 had passed the township, we saw resting on the sea hundreds of thousands of Mutton-birds, and 

 hundreds of thousands more on the wing travelling southward. For the space of fully half an 

 hour, going at express-speed, we saw a steady stream of these birds as far out to sea as 

 the eye could reach : there were probably a million or more, and they were apparently heading 

 their way for Foveaux Strait, which seems to be the metropolis of this species in New 

 Zealand. 



Mr. Eobson wrote to me, in December, from the Moeraki Lighthouse : " We have a great 

 many Mutton-birds about here at this season. I have been quite surprised to find them addicted 

 to robbing. They go into the bush at night and rob the nests of small birds, taking either eggs or 

 young; and they will also attack meat if hung out of doors." 



Off the coast of Tasmania, in March, 1894, I saw a flock of Mutton-birds (Puffinus griseus) 

 numbering many hundreds, and packed so closely together on the water that they looked like a 

 sand-bank or reef till the approach of the steamer made them take wing. 



