288 
THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA 
southern Australia; it may be distinguished from the dark Albatrosses 
by its stouter form, shorter wings, and large pale bill. Its flight is not 
so graceful and buoyant as that of an Albatross, being more laboured 
and flapping in character. Most of its food, which is procured from 
the surface of the water, consists of fish, squids, crustaceans, and other 
marine-life, also refuse from ships. This Petrel is a scavenger, it also 
kills and devours other sea-birds. There is a white phase of this 
species which is practically confined to the neighbourhood of the 
Antarctic Circle. Breeds on the South Shedands, South Orkneys, and 
South Georgia, Falkland Islands, Tristan da Cunha, and the Gough, 
Prince Edward, Marion, the Crozet, Kerguelen, Macquarie, and Heard 
Islands, and the sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand. 
nest. A hollowed, cone-shaped structure, composed of earth and 
excreta. 
egg. White. Breeding-season: September to January. 
29. Pacific Gull Gabianus pacificus Latham 
Gab-i-a'-nus— N.L., gabianus , gull: pacificus —of the Pacific Ocean. 
distribution. Tasmania and southern Australia, from Shark Bay 
(Western Australia) to Rockhampton (Queensland). 
notes. Usually singly or in pairs, frequenting chiefly the seas of 
South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, and the larger islands of 
Bass Strait, being rather rare in Western Australia, New South Wales, 
and Queensland. It is a true scavenger and also a notorious egg robber. 
Most of its food is procured from the surface of the water, and consists 
of fish and marine animals, also galley-refuse from ships. Breeds on 
islands in Bass Strait and headlands of Tasmania. Immature birds are 
brown, the feathers being mottled with pale edges. 
nest. A depression in the ground, neatly lined with grass or other 
herbage; generally situated in the shelter of a tussock of grass or a 
low bush. 
eggs. One to three, varying from pale olive or grey to pale olive- 
brown, blotched all over with reddish-brown and la\endcr markings. 
Breeding-season: September to January. 
