C iV5e' r J r.AKiH, Tin' Sutttlwimi *>j Stones by .Imutdte 87 



further taking of nine seals showed that tii)h iiik: had pebble^ |i| \ty\ -»*m>;*rli. 

 and of titty-seven taken . . . forty-tw-.i wttv found to be empty ur containing 

 a hltlc liquid or a lew pebbles Of stones". 



Further investigations were undertaken in iliv season ni 1°4H-4V, when 

 seals were taken from l.ady Julia lVrcy Island, off Pun Fairy and at Seal 

 Koeks, Western Porl Hay. CM 246 stomachs examined by J. McN'allv and 

 J->. I). Lynch, thirty had varying number^ <if ^tonc> m them; the largest 

 number ohtamed trum one individual, at Sea! Rock"-, bHn« 133 very --maU 

 pebbles of well rounded basalt. In the Mmnach of another fr'Bt! J.ady Julia 

 ] Vrey islam! were 42 stone-, ranyiuw >" i\pi from tbrcc-mtat ter > V" one- 

 quarter of an inch in diameter. 



Ml the pebbles found in (he Victorian seal* were of deiUe black basalt 

 this being tlie rock which comprises their habitat. Mo<tty the pebbles are 

 well touno!ed and show little or no polish on their burtaee. 



Living Fish 



There is evidence of fish having swallowed stones too. U I- Moodn- 

 ( loe. eil.) mentions, "large Cretaceous sharks, which have been received at 

 the L'tmersity of Kansas Museum, In one specimen, consisting almost 

 entirety of scattered vertebral cartilages, there were assorted man> 

 hnudi'ed-v of ^tvatly abraded, very* smooth and |Kt}f*t|i3c<1 stones of white and 

 black utiart/ite. That tbev belong with the -;hark cannot be doubted on 

 account of the association*. 



J. A. Kershaw MWi described a Basking ;drark\ caught off YViiluuiw 

 tf.-Ati. iiobsun's Hay. in May 1^02, Wlien considering its food, Sir K. Honu . 

 referring to a specimen wbicli be bad examined, states: "The contents ot the 

 stomach consisted oi several pads full of pebbles, a quantity of mucous, and 

 a small portion of a substance which proves to tie a spawn of a univalve." 



During the years l9.U-.fo. K. t. McKown conducted investigations into 

 the food ot troul and the Macu,uarie perch in Australia- Apart from sand 

 ami gravel ill the stomachs oi the Brown Trout iSahuo fono), there were 

 3k number of specimens of the Kainhow Trout (Saliwo triticu>i) which had 

 pebbles in the stojnach. Two trout bad one pebble, three bad two, and one 

 oilitainrd three pebbles, 



The greatest number m one individual was sixteen quartz pebbles ot 

 various sizes and jaggard in contour, the largest being one ouarter ounce 

 in weight; the total weight was one and a half ounces. 



Extinct Birds 



It is with recent birds that the •■wallowing of sand. grit, small pebbles, 

 and even brightly coloured objects, is probably more familiar to us. How- 

 ever, there is evidence that extinct birds also swallowed (juautities of this 

 mineral diet, 



Le<|iiat. in hi-. /'n.vtn/i'J oj • IdViUturcs, written in 1H07. discovered stones 

 .isM..eiated will" .skeletons of the Solitaire ( /Vr<t/>/id/\v Solitarixts) — a bird 

 allied to the Dodo and like it now extinct — m a cavern on the island of 

 Rodriguez, 'and suggested that they may he stomach .stones, J, Caldwell, 

 writing in 1K75, after a visit to thc^e caverns say< "I got, both with the 

 uiimuted bird and the male bird, the stones mentioned by Leijuat as existing 

 in the gizzard. In each case they were found on lifting the sternum and in 

 the middle of the ribs. They ai*e basaltic pebbles with rough angles and 

 surfaces, and no stone of similar kind is to he found within about two nnlo 

 of the caverns. 1 got lour in all. but only two of which t could identify the 

 birds they belonged Id." 



I.ambrecht (1*MJ) describes ; t i,,s*il long-necked bird ( Pn<ti<ph>hts /vm( 

 fortii from the Tertiary t. -Miocene) rocks of West Sumatra Together 



* Rtjmnluetiim <»f illustration i- incltuird in the |iiL-n«-nl it:i)>rr. 



