Birds of Kerguelen Island. 
27 
essaying jumps on to Azorella -clumps of 2 feet in height. 
Several pairs,, with stretched necks, appeared to be engaged 
in controversy, and occasionally a low squeaking noise was 
uttered. On first sight of me they moved toward the edge 
of the cliff ; but when I sat down within 100 yards of them, 
they became more confiding, and many gradually approached 
me, not flying, and without noise. Both young and old 
seemed to be inquisitive, but a gun shot half a mile away 
would cause them to look shy for a minute. After a rest, 
which they often took by sitting down, they would come a 
little nearer. Occasionally a bird would fly over with a 
prolonged guttural croak. There were from 50 to 70 of 
them, and by appearances many young birds were already 
abroad at this date (January 7th). As I drove them to the 
beach I stumbled upon quite a strange sight: it was their 
rookery, and some twenty-one grey fledgelings, as large as 
full-grown Geese, were nestling among the scattered tussocks 
of Azorella. The nest was made by tearing away the soft 
stems of this plant and then sitting upon them. 
On approaching a bird, which was always a few yards apart 
from its fellows, it would utter a low grunt, bite, and stand 
upon the defensive, ejecting a quantity of oily matter that 
would ruin almost any suit of clothes. The adults preferred 
to run along the cliff-top rather than fly, and I drove them 
like any other fowls. They have no confidence in taking 
wing from the land, but do so at once on reaching the 
water. This rookery faces the entrance to Royal Sound, 
and is about 200 feet above sea-level. The birds possibly 
lay in September. The nests, some 3 feet in diameter, are 
merely hollows among the broken stems of Azorella and in 
the sand, and in the former the young are partially hidden 
and sheltered. The rookery extended for some 200 yards. 
I found several young birds which had just lost their grey 
down, and had assumed a shining black plumage, a phase 
on which I know of no observations. I do not see why this 
coat should be exchanged later on for what is a very poor 
one in comparison. I also saw this black phase 800 miles 
east of Kerguelen, on the return to home (February 22nd). 
