in 
x 1-2G ; 1-65x1-25. The Rev. A. E. Eaton* who accompanied 
the expedition sent to the same island by Her Majesty’s Govern¬ 
ment, for the purpose of making observations during the Transit 
of Venus, writes as follows respecting the niditication of this 
species : “They had begun to pair when we reached Kerguelen 
Island. The first egg was found on the 31st of October. Thei r 
burrows are about as small in diameter as the holes of Rank 
Martins (Cofylfi riparia) or Kingfishers (Alce<lo Upula). They 
are made in dry banks and slopes where the ground is easily pene¬ 
trable, and terminate in a large chamber on whose floor the egg 
is deposited. There is no specially constructed nest. Some of 
the burrows are branched, but the branches are without terminal 
enlargements, and do not appear to be put to any use by the birds. 
Before the egg is laid, both of the parents may be found in the 
nest-chamber, and may often be heard moaning in the day-time ; 
but when the females begin to sit, their call is seldom heard, ex¬ 
cepting at night, when the male in his flight to and from the hole, 
and his mate on the nest make a considerable noise.’ 
Mr. Howard Saunders,f who described the eggs of this species 
obtained there amongst those of oilier birds frequenting the 
Australian Coast, writes: “Ten eggs are all pure white, except 
where peat-stained, nearly equal at each end, or but very slightly 
pointed. Dimensions lm x Id inch.” 
Sir Walter Laurie Bullerij in his Birds of New Zealand, records 
that “ Mr. Burton found this Petrel breeding on Stephens Island 
in Cook’s Strait. It also breeds on Karewa Island (off Taurangat 
on the small islands of the Great Barrier, and on the lien and 
Chickens.” 
In Australian waters this bird is most frequently found between 
Victoria and Tasmania, likewise in the seas washing the shores of 
South Australia and New South W ales, but in neither of the 
* Baton, Account of the collections made in Kerguelen’s band jmd 
Rodriguez during the Transit of Venus Expeditions in the year 1874-5, 
p. 117 (1879). 
t Howard Saunders, Account of the collections made m Kerguelen s 
Land and Rodriguez during the Transit of 1 onus Expeditions in the 
year 1874-5, p. 174, (1879). . , 
§ Under, Birds of New Zealand, Vol. ii.. Second edition, p. 20/,(18HS). 
