THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
evidences of the burrows of this tiny Petrel. I was not long in discovering signs 
that the birds had commenced to come in to clean out their homes in preparation 
for the breeding season. How long prior to my arrival they had been coming 
in it was impossible to say. As I afterwards discovered, not only were the 
burrows driven under the tussock-grass almost everywhere, but also in the 
soft soil on the top and sides of the island. An investigation showed that in 
these latter places the burrows were from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in length ; 
many were curved, some almost forming the letter L. The nesting chamber 
was some 6 inches in diameter, with a few fragments of vegetable debris on 
the floor. 
“ It was my custom every evening, after watching the Little Penguins 
landing on some part of the island, to spend some hours on the various rookeries 
armed with a powerful acetylene lamp, watching the various birds. I found that 
by walking slowly and as noiselessly as possible, I could move with impunity, 
and observe the birds cleaning out their burrows, courting, fighting, etc. I 
found that the first White-faced Storm-Petrel arrived each evening punctually 
at 6.50. By 8 o’clock the majority of the birds had arrived and were in their 
burrows hard at work ‘ spring cleaning.’ It was a very pretty sight watching 
them alight and seek out their homes ; they cannot walk after the manner of 
ordinary birds, but flit over the ground, just tipping it with their toes. They 
gave one the impression of being fuU of springs. As soon as a bird arrived at 
the entrance of its burrow it would come to a stop and dart suddenly out of 
sight. Even with hundreds of birds of this species round, not a sound was heard 
while they were on the wing, but when in their burrows a mouse-like squeaking, 
only slightly louder, could be heard. With many hundreds of birds underground, 
the noise was distinctly audible. From the 22nd to the 25th Storm-Petrels were 
only fairly numerous ; then a curious thing occurred — not a single bird put in 
an appearance for three nights. On the 29th they reappeared in vast numbers, 
and continued every night while I was on the island. 
“ No prettier sight can be imagined than hundreds, perhaps thousands, 
of these dainty creatures passing and repassing in the rays of the lamp, coming 
from darkness into light and disappearing again into darkness as they flitted over 
the rookeries. They looked for all the world like giant moths, and appeared 
as thick as flakes in a snow-shower on a calm day. 
“ Again and again I caught individuals in my hands as they flew past, to 
be released again. It was found that after being held in one’s hands for a few 
seconds, and then the fingers slowly opened, the birds would remain either 
quietly resting or poised with outstretched wings for quite an appreciable time. 
On suddenly turning the lamp on to any bird on the ground, it was always possible 
to pick it up without any attempt at escape on its part. As to the number of 
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