A ' 



118 



Inlet, after giving the description of a Petrel which fits in exactly with that of CEstrelata 

 gularis, says : " I have found a hill where these birds breed. I found two specimens dead 

 and mutilated ; and my dogs caught a third, but pulled most of the tail out. I took measure- 

 ments of this one, but did not preserve it, as I intended to make a camp in a cave near 

 the breeding-ground and collect a number. I visited the place at intervals, and the birds 

 were just cleaning out their burrows (February), when some mining business called me away 

 to another part of the district. However, I hope to get specimens next season. The 

 burrows were very deep, and it would scarcely be practicable to collect a single specimen 

 and return to the hut under eight or nine hours, unless a track were first cut through the 

 dense bog-pine — a week's work, I suppose." 





Order PEOCELLAEIIFOEMES.i 



[Family PUFFINID^. 



CESTRELATA COOKI. 



(COOK'S PETREL.) 



(Estrelat^ cookii (Gray), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 217. 



I find that the size of this species is variable, a specimen sent to me by Mr. Eeeves, of Mokohinu 

 Island, measuring in the wing, from flexure to the tip, only 8*2 in. Bill ebony-black ; legs and 

 feet yellowish-grey, shading into greyish-black on the outer toe ; webs darker. 



In the whole romance of bird-life there is perhaps nothing more remarkable than the manner 

 in which this Petrel and the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatum)* habitually share the same burrow, 

 the lizard championing the nest and fighting for its possession, when molested, like a veritable 



dragonet ! 



(See my full account, vol. ii., p. 218.) 



CESTRELATA FULIGINOSA. 



(SOOTY PETEEL.) 



(Estrelata fuliginosa (Kuhl.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii. p. 221. 



Unfortunately I have obtained no specimens, and have nothing to add under this head. 



* This lizard is so abnormal in its character that it forms by itself a distinct Order of Eeptilia and exhibits the most 

 bird-like skeleton of all existing reptiles. It is perhaps generically the oldest inhabitant of the earth, being closely 

 allied to the Prohatteria of the Permian period, its closest relations being the various forms of Bhyncocephala, which 

 occur in the Trias. It still exists, but in greatly diminished numbers, on the rocky islands adjacent to the New 

 Zealand coast. It is comparatively common on the Hen and Chickens, on Cuvier Island, on the Poor Knights, on the 

 Mercury Islands, and on the Barrier Islands, in the Hauraki Gulf. Coming further south, it occurs on the Alderman 

 Islands, on Motunau or Plate Island, on the Island of Karewa in the Bay of Plenty, on the Eurimu Eocks, on Whale 

 Island, and on East-Cape Island. It likewise inhabits the various groups of islands in Cook's Strait, such as Stephen's 

 Island, the Brothers, and the Chetwyn Islands. The last recorded specimen from the mainland was captured in 

 Evans Bay, near Wellington, about the year 1842, and coming into my possession, twelve years later, I presented it 

 to the Colonial Museum. 



