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Sydney Porter—Notes on New Zealand Birds



NOTES ON NEW ZEALAND BIRDS


By Sydney Porter


The Sooty Shearwater or <£ Mutton Bird ” (Puffinus griseus)

[Continued from Vol . XII, page 237)


One of the most interesting periods spent in New Zealand was a

sojourn amongst the “ Mutton Bird ” Islands in the far south of that

country. Through the kindness of Mr. Corbet, of Invercargill, a member

of the Avicultural Society, arrangements were made for me to go

to Stewart Island and to be picked up there by the owner of a yacht

and to cruise for a period around the islands off the south of Stewart

Island. We were held up for several days at Half Moon Bay, the one

and only settlement on Stewart Island and probably the most southern

township in the world.


The “ Mutton Bird ”, otherwise the Sooty Petrel or Shearwater,

is an important article of commerce amongst the Maoris of Stewart

Island and the extreme south of the South Island. The small islands

where the Petrels nest have been held by certain families for many

centuries and the right of taking the birds is held by their descendants.

At the beginning of the Southern summer the birds gather from all

quarters of the globe, coming from as far as Greenland, Alaska, Labrador,

and many parts of the Arctic Ocean, traversing many thousands of

miles of ocean spaces and in time arriving at the tiny islands in the

far south where they first saw the light of day. The gathering of the

Petrels from all quarters of the globe is truly one of the greatest of

bird mysteries.


A long burrow is excavated in the loamy soil amongst the dense

scrub which covers the islands. These vary greatly in length, some

being only a few feet long, while others are from 10 to 15 feet in

length, the longer ones being no doubt old burrows in which fresh

excavations have been made each year. It is an amazing thing that

the birds are able to tunnel through the very fibrous mould with their

seemingly fragile beaks and weak legs. The space being so limited,

the same nesting holes are used year after year. Often the entrance

hole is made under the roots of a tree or a fallen log.


The young are hatched about Christmas time and are ready for



