THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
have disappeared, then they come out, pick up a few leaves or grass, and go 
back into the burrows ; this they repeat several times, an^ always on entering the 
chambers they make a peculiar noise together. After dark both come out, 
rise and circle round, calling until they attract others, and when a large flock 
is assembled they fly away to their haunts on the ocean, returning before day- 
Hght. At this season, before they lay, they are very fat. When caught they 
eject a lot of oily matter. When the female lays, the male separates from her 
during the day, while she is hatching, and remains in a separate burrow of his 
own not far away. The female alone sits on the egg. 
“ I watched these birds by moonlight, and have seen the male come out 
of his burrow and fly away ; returning after a time, and circling round in the air, 
he swooped down to the burrow of the female, striking the ground with a force 
that could be heard some distance. He stopped outside a little, then entered, 
and I heard a whispering noise. After this a bird came out and flew away, return- 
ing after a time to the same burrow, and in a few minutes once again emerged and 
flew away, but returned before daylight, and using the same precautions on 
entering as before. Then one bird came out and went to the second burrow. 
The bird in the burrow which contained the eggs was a female, the male being 
in the other burrow. 
“As soon as the young birds are a few days old, the parents leave them 
in the burrow from before sunrise till after sunset, while they go to seek food. 
The old birds leave and return several times in a night. If they find their 
burrows disturbed they will not go in.” 
The bird figured and described is a female, collected on Little Barrier 
Island, near Auckland. 
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