BIRDS OF LAYS AN AND THE LEEWARD ISLANDS. 
793 
The egg is deposited either directly on the sand under some bush or occasionally in a mere 
semblance of a burrow. This burrow was never sufficient, so far as I could see, to entirely cover the 
bird, but seemed an expedient to gain shade in lieu of denser brush. I saw only a comparatively few 
of these shallow holes, none of which were more than a foot or 18 inches deep. Frequently this 
shearwater is found nesting under colonies of Sula piscator. 
The white egg is usually ovate; an average specimen rather more elongate than the diagram in 
Ridgway’s Nomenclature of Colors. One specimen in our series of twelve is bluntly elliptical ovate, 
and another is nearly oval. An average specimen measures 58 by 40 millimeters. The bird, on going 
back to her egg, pushes it under her breast with her beak, and then works the egg backward till it is 
entirely covered. (Fig. 41.) 
The note or cry is much like that of Puffinus cuneatus, and is dove-like, rising in volume and pitch 
as the bird gathers interest or becomes more excited. When one is close the note resembles khoo- 
Tiow' ! or Jchoo-oo-ov/ 1 The first note or two notes are made on the inspiration, the final ow! on 
expiration. Both are prolonged, and the final note is cat-like from a distance. 
The species is more gentle than Puffinus cuneatus. We did not see the birds flying about much. 
They seem to be nocturnal or crepuscular in habits. One bird which I frightened disgorged a squid 
and some small silvery fishes. 
The bills of two males are larger than those ©f two females. Our specimens are in fresh plumage, 
and the brown feathers of the breast and abdomen are tipped ever so lightly with a paler brown, so 
that the contour of the feather ends is seen. This very soon wears off, and in one bird is nearly absent. 
We met with this shearwater off the French Frigate Shoals, but saw none on or near Necker. 
On our first visit to Bird Island in June it escaped detection, but at the same place in August I saw a 
few, so that they undoubtedly breed on the island. 
Salvin a gives the distribution of this bird as “Central North Pacific Ocean, from Christmas Island 
to Krusenstern Island and the Phoenix Group.” 
-33strelata hypoleuca. Salvin White-breasted Petrel. 
JEstrelata hypoleuca Salvin, Ibis, 1888, p. 359. 
This petrel is strictly nocturnal on Laysan, which was the only place where we found it. Here 
it occurs in great numbers, and is the most abundant species of its family inhabiting the island. The 
long burrows in which the birds nest honeycomb the sandy soil over all the region covered by coarse 
bushy grass, or from the edge of the plain surrounding the central lagoon to the divide overlooking 
the sea. In walking over the island one constantly breaks through the roofs of these tunnels, which 
makes progression tedious at times, especially if one is in haste. The burrows are quite long, 6 feet at 
least, and usually turn either to the right or to the left after the first few feet. They are placed very 
close together, so that nearly all available space in the area indicated seems occupied. 
When we visited the island many young in incomplete juvenal dress had crawled out to seek 
shelter under a tuft of grass, as shown in fig. 30. These young had assumed the juvenal plumage 
on the breast, abdomen, back, top of head, wings, and tail, but the remiges, rectrices, sides of head, 
nape, forehead, throat, and jugulum were still downy, and the lower abdomen in most birds still 
retained a big tuft of pure white down. The down of the upper parts is light gray, including all the 
head and sides of neck. 
According to Mr. Schlemmer the eggs are laid about the 1st of January, but the birds arrive in 
vast numbers months before. Dr. Schauinsland thus graphically describes the invasion: 
“I remember most vividly the evening of the 17th of August, 1896. It was less noisy on the 
island than before, for the clamorous terns had reared their young, and thousands of albatrosses had 
left their ancestral home for the boundless ocean, which would in future be their dwelling-place. We 
were just leaving the little hill from where we had been looking for the sail which should take us back 
again to civilized countries. The golden glow of the sunset was fading away, and the slender sickle 
of the new moon began to shine, when our eyes, which had become well acquainted with every one 
of the characteristic motions of our feathered companions of the island from week-long observations, 
were struck by a new phenomenon. Against the dissolving evening glow was sharply traced the 
silhouette of a magnificent flier, which cut through the air with the keenest and at the same time 
most graceful movements, inaudible and almost without movement of its wings. The manner in which 
it dashed along was unknown to us, and we saw that a new arrival had reached our island. 
‘Cat, B. B, Mas,-, xxv, 1896, p. 390, 
