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on the Rnrima Eocks large numbers annually breed, sharing their burrows with the tuatara lizard, 
and submitting, season after season, to have their nests plundered by the Maoris, who systematically 
visit the breeding-grounds when the young birds are sufficiently plump and fat for the calabash. 
Mr. Marchant informs me that he found this species breeding in burrows near the summit of the 
Island of Kapiti about the end of February. The excavations were in peaty ground over which a fire 
had passed, destroying all the surface vegetation. The young at this time were half-grown, thickly 
covered with light grey down, and extremely fat. On being held up by the feet, oily matter ran 
freely from their throats. The old birds, on being taken hold of, fought fiercely with their bills. 
Mr. Kennedy also informs me that when engaged on a survey of the Kaimanawa ranges, his native 
workmen caught numbers of these birds in their burrows. On their first arrival at the breeding- 
ground the young birds were very small, but in the month of April they had attained their full size and 
were veritable lumps of fat, “ pure oil pouring from the bill when the birds were held up by the feet.” 
It sometimes breeds in the hills at the back of Wellington, and I once met with the bird on the 
coach road in the Kgauranga gorge. 
There are some nesting-grounds of this species on Whale Island in the Bay of Plenty. I visited 
these breeding-places about the middle of January and found the nestlings still occupying their deep 
burrows, but they were well grown, with black quills and tail-feathers sprouting vigorously through 
their thick downy mantle of slaty grey. 
These birds are at all times more nocturnal than diurnal, and when hovering overhead at night 
utter a frequent call-note, like tee-tee-tee, from which the Maori name is derived. 
There are several well-known breeding-places on the south-east coast of Otago, and on Stewart s 
Island, from which large supplies of potted birds are annually drawn and forwarded to the Northern, 
tribes, ^poha titi (or cask of preserved Petrel) being a gift worth the acceptance of the highest chief. 
Of this species probably Dr. Crowfoot writes (Ibis, 1885, p. 268):— “This Petrel, called by the 
Norfolk-Islanders ‘Mutton-bird’ or ‘Ghost-bird,’ from its child-like cry at night, lays its eggs on 
Norfolk, Phillip, and Nepean Islands. Its breeding-period extends over a considerable time. I have seen 
young birds nearly fledged on the 27th October, and have obtained fresh eggs on the 15th January. 
This bird digs out a hole in the soft soil on the faces of the cliffs, also in the sand on flat ground. Some 
of the burrows are six feet and more in length. The bird also lays extensively on Phillip Island in 
shallow recesses under overhanging boulders and in colonies, i. e. many may be found close together. 
On Norfolk Island its holes are always isolated and the burrows deep. One egg only is laid. Both 
bird and egg have a very strong peculiar smell, and I can usually tell a fresh hole from an old one by 
the smell of the entrance. There is no nest. The eggs, which are pure white, vary from 2 5 inches to 
2-75 in length, and from 1-5 inch to 1-75 in breadth. Some are equally rounded at both ends ; others 
are much pointed at one end.” 
An egg supposed to belong to this species, and sent to me by Mr. Drew (who obtained it at 
Kapiti), is^ovoido-elliptical in form, measuring 3T inches in length by 1-95 in breadth ; it is white, 
with a smooth surface, but much discoloured by soiling. 
Of the closely allied species, Puffiniis carneipes, Mr. Salvin writes [1. c.):— “Sir Walter Buffer’s 
collection contains a specimen which appears to me to belong undoubtedly to this species ; the only 
other examples which I have seen are from Hakodate in Northern Japan. The latter only differ in 
being rather older, and in more worn plumage, the New-Zealand bird being freshly moulted. These 
additional localities show that this bird has a much wider range than has hitherto been suspected. 
Gould’s types came from Cape Leewin, S.W. Australia. 
“ The bird is rare in collections, and we have considerable doubts as to the correct determination 
of those stated to be in the Leyden and other museums {cf. Schl. Mus. Pays-Bas, vi. Procellarioe, 
p. 26) ; the Leyden birds should, I believe, be referred to Puffinus gnseus (Gm.). 
