CESTRELATA BREVIROSTRIS. 



Dr. Kidder, the naturalist of the U. S. Transit of Venus Expedition, met with this 

 species breeding during the month of October on Kerguelen Island, which appears to be 

 its headquarters (Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 3, p. 15), and the Rev. A. E. Eaton found it 

 nesting in November and December, but less plentifully than CE. lessoni, at Observatory 

 Bay, which was the station of the British Expedition. 



Dr. Vanhoffen, during the voyage of the " Gauss," states that it was observed as 

 far south as 59° on the way from Kerguelen to Kaiser Wilhelm II. Land, and on the 

 northward voyage in Lat. 57° S., or about 200 nautical miles south of Heard Island. 

 Mr. Eagle Clarke (Ibis, 1907, p. 337) records its occurrence in the Antarctic Ocean, 

 where it was discovered for the first time by the Scottish Expedition on March 20th, 

 1904. It occurred in Lat. 69° 33' S., Long. 15° 19' W., during the northward voyage 

 from Coats Land towards Gough Island, and it was likewise observed till March 

 25th, when it was last seen in Lat. 65° 58' S., Long. 11° 24' W. 



The British Museum contains a specimen from Tristan da Cunha, given by Captain 

 Carmichael (Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XXV., p. 410). Nikolai Hanson, during 

 the voyage of the " Southern Cross," procured a single example on October 24th, 1898, 

 in Lat. 42° 23' S., Long. 20° 32' E. (Sharpe, Rep. Voy. " Southern Cross," p. 148). 



Mr. Robert Hall relates that he found a burrow on January 25th, in Greenland 

 Harbour, Kerguelen Island, which branched out in different directions at the end of a 

 long tunnel. One end contained a Majaqueus aiquinoclialis, the other terminated in 

 a dome-shaped cavity, in which was found a Kerguelen Fulmar, both birds being 

 without eggs. In another district the nests were placed in the vicinity of lakes, and 

 the holes were excavated in clay soil. During the early part of the breeding season 

 these holes were flooded with water, which might be seen trickling out, giving the 

 appearance of a deserted burrow, but later the ground dried up. 



According to the Rev. A. E. Eaton, the nest is composed of damp and decayed 

 vegetable matter, comprising sprigs of Acmna and Azorella, tufts of Festuca erecta, etc. 

 It is two or three inches in height, and slightly concave. The first nest was found on 

 November 8th, and the embryo was tolerably advanced in growth. In January, in a 

 branch of a Majaqueus burrow was a nestling, which seemed to be the young of CE. 

 brevirostris ; the Majaqueus egg was in the chamber of the main burrow, to which 

 there was only one entrance (Sharpe, Phil. Trans., Vol. 168, p. 125). 



Adult. General colour above dull slaty-grey, most of the feathers with hoary- 

 grey bases ; wing-coverts greyish-black, with slaty-grey margins to the feathers, 

 imparting a general slaty-grey appearance to the wing-coverts, the median and greater 

 series clearer slaty-grey on their edges ; quills blackish, shaded externally with ashy- 

 grey, the inner web inclining to ashy-brown ; tail-feathers slaty-black ; crown of head 

 like the back, scarcely a shade darker, but not so distinctly washed with grey ; sides 

 of face and ear-coverts dull slaty-grey, with a blackish shade before the eye ; entire 

 under-surface of body slaty-grey, slightly paler and more lavender-grey on the lores, 



217 



