90 I:\kik. Tin -.S..v//..v^n#/ p/ Mpitft h tnMk Vvl*** 



quartern ot an i uc I i in diameter, tin. 1 surfaces oi which were smooth and 

 Worn as if by attrition. 



"'I he sh'Ors ill one entire patch weighed fourteen I ►uncC'v iiml included 



mIjccous sandstone, jasper, claystone (blackened on the outside », bhick 

 quart/., clear quart/, chalcedony, together with fragments of blue brittle 

 clay with wnffj edges, Such pebbles occurred either MlWtffC'a or in groups 

 at various places in the lake, and were the only stono of any kind to hi* 

 0)011(1 anywhere tm the surface." 



Living Birds 



Present day birds oi the seas have tins peculiar habit of swallowing stones, 

 K. A. Wij^cin f I *>i)7 J . reporting on penguins during tlifi National Antarctic 

 expedition 1901 -04. :.talcs. "I he l-'mperor Penguin, its food consisting of 

 fish and crustaceans, always contained pehhlcs in the .stomach, found run 

 only in tin- Vntittg aiul old, hut even in the stomach of a chick which could 

 have emerged from the egg only a day ot two before' . "Kxactly where the 

 pebbles come FhMfl ta not at first sight evident, as the birds are never seen 

 oh land; probably they are picked up at the- bottom of shallow sens, or 

 some of them may be found on floating ice. Occasionally the stones are passed 

 with the excreta, and may he found in the radiating pattern v\luch is left 

 on the ice-floes when- a company of Kmpcfoi Penguins has huddled, all 

 facing towards a common centre for warmth and rest in their spring and 

 autumn wanderings". 



Wilson also records the Kmg-lVngnhi ( . lfih'tit)<fyti'.i /nt/io/em, <i ) <n Mat- 

 tpiarie Island, and the Adclie Penguin t ty/MWCCfe tulrhar) from Cape Koyd^ 

 in the Ross Sca t as ha\fug pebbles constantly in their stomachs, 



Investigations into the feeding habits of the Mullon-MrU ( Short-taded 

 Shearwater) on l J lnIIip Inland, Western Port Hay, Victoria, conducted by 

 l*\ Lewis { ]<Mo \ and taken over for breeding seasons, showed that in 

 40 young birds examined, there wcie no stones in the gizzard or stomach. 

 only a bulc sand, and a small proportion. averaging 0..1 gm., of clinker ot 

 burnt coal, apparently derived from steamers and often seen floating in the. 

 water.-, or deposited on beaches. 



Considerable investigation also has fteen undertaken into the food of 

 Australian water and land birds. This has been necessary to prove whether 

 "i- not certain typest are injurious to crops, raising of sheep, or hsh in 

 the -streams. J Although it is necessary that grain-eating birds obtain sand 

 or gut to assist trituration of food in their digestive systems, there have 

 been recorded a number ot instances where juibhles have been found in lite 

 crop, yi/.2urd or stomach, 



fj. M Mathews (IVOVl records, in his list of hints from the north-west 

 of Australia, the Little Corella or Mare-eyed Cockatoo (Kak<ti>>e A'oj//io*jnt) 

 having "some small stones" associated with the food. 



\Y. McLennan (1917) records bavins found small pebbles in the Common 

 Utouzewmg ( f'hof's eititlct'ttrra) and the Little ( irrbc < P('<nYc/>A f-nfivrnwr) t 



J. l\, Cleland, with co-authors Maiden, Froggatt, Ferguson and Musson 

 (1918). in an extensive tabulated examination of the food of Australian 

 birds, records ironstone pebbles in the crop of two specimens of a Red- 

 checked Parnn ( (tntff royux t/nifirttyi) , tpiart? pebbles ni the stomachs of 

 three specimen*- of the White Cockatoo ( A'ti/.'nM-- ,</n(VW/n>, anil two pieces 

 of quart/ with many nieces "t black tmueral matter in a simile specimen Itf 

 the Pale-headed K'osella ( }*U\t yrrt cits tttt,\iifn,\) , On examination ot seven 

 specimen-* hi the White-winged Chough I t\"Y<inr.r intiin(uvh<unf>ltu\ I , 

 quartz pebbles were found m all of iheni. 



t-'urther work by K, t, Me^Kcown <!9.Uj on birds irom south-western 



* Mi-wl jKilivi.' I.it<l^ nt Aintr.-tlin are iirntt'Cic-tl hy I.ihv 



J Many *-tir.iiu> nni) sviilet if>fivi*^ in A'ictorU :oi* slocked with ymiittt ('»«.|i liy th»- 

 I'tshtrir*. fttLrl tlsnv I A-WnWCIlti 



