108 



1st March. — Same birds as yesterday. The steamer having stopped for twenty minutes, I observed that in 

 calm water Priqfinus cinereus dived for its food, first settling down on the surface, and then diving for a moment 

 quite out of sight. About 11 p.m. the Aurora australis w r as again announced [see page 148] , and the passengers 

 left their cabins and crowded on deck to observe this strange phenomenon. It was certainly very magnificent. 

 At first a luminous arch, with a broken or irregular outline, and resting as it were on a bank of cloud, appeared 

 in the western sky, covering an extent of fully 50°. From this arch rays or flashes of white light ascended 

 fitfully to the heavens ; these long beams of light, shooting upwards almost to the zenith, travelled slowly 

 along the arch, always moving from east to west ; whilst every now and then a luminous expansion, like the 

 tail of a giant comet, appeared in the sky for a few seconds, and quickly faded away. Then the arch widened, 

 and presented a more regular circumference. This was succeeded by a pale rainbow-like effect of blending 

 red and purple colours immediately above it, with coruscations of pure white light, forming a shifting halo, 

 and for a few seconds only, a less perfect and fainter bow below the arch. This grand effect lasted only a brief 

 time, and with its disappearance the arch itself melted out of sight. At this conjuncture the moon, which 

 had hitherto been obscured, made her appearance through a rift in the clouds, and, although in her fourth 

 quarter, shone forth with unusual brilliance. At the same moment a shimmering beam of light appeared 

 below the shining crescent, and continued to lengthen itself out till it seemed to touch the horizon, when it 

 gradually melted away ; but the whole of the western sky was still illumined with flashes of pale light and 

 luminous clouds, which quivered and pulsated as if produced (as no doubt they were) by electricity, and then 

 insensibly passed away, the whole phenomenon from first to last occupying barely thirty minutes. 



4th March. — Besides (E. neglecta, there were a few of Priofinus cinereus to-day, but this was its last 

 appearance. 



THALASSCECA ANTARCTICA. 



(ANTARCTIC PETEEL.) 



Thalassceca antarctica (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, yoI. ii., p. 229. 



This Antarctic form has been added to the list by Sir James Hector on the authority of a speci- 

 men (now in the Colonial Museum) shot on the high seas between New Zealand and Tasmania. 

 It was no doubt a straggler from a much lower latitude. 



The ' Challenger ' Expedition reported it " very numerous about the ships when south of 

 60° S. lat., and near the Antarctic ice ; often seen sitting on the icebergs." 



I find the following entry in my diary for 1894 :— 



2nd March. — At 5 p.m. the rare Thalassceca antarctica paid us a visit and made three circuits at a moderate 

 distance from the ship. It is a beautiful object on the wing, and has a very graceful flight. Lat. 48° 35' S., 

 long. 111° 26' E. 



PRIOCELLA GLACIALOIDES. 



(SILVERY-GREY PETREL.) 



Thalassceca glacialoides (Smith), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 228. 



Mr. F. Sandager writes to me of this rare species (under date of 1st October) : " To-day, as I was 

 going along the beach at Moeraki, a species of Procellaria came in. By means of your ' Manual ' 

 I had no difficulty in identifying it as P. glacialoides." 



Before leaving the Colony I obtained a fine pair of this rare Petrel — one bird coming 

 from Nelson and the other from Otago. 





