42 FALLA, Breeding of Bailers Shearwater. [ ju?y 
Albatrosses rather than the smaller Petrels. Under such con¬ 
ditions they are usually to be seen singly or in scattered flocks. 
In calm weather the wing strokes are powerful and measured, 
and the flight is usually close to the surface, although seldom 
in a straight line. Occasionally a large flock is met with resting 
on the water, while Messrs. Myers and Sutherland report that, 
in company with flocks of the Silver or Mackerel Gull ( Laras 
novce-hollandice) , they congregate over the broken water caused 
by the shoaling of the Kahawai ( Arripis trutta). When the bird 
is in flight the dark, wedge-shaped tail contrasts conspicuously 
with the light grey upper coverts, and a similar contrast is 
noticeable between the dark brown of head and wings and the 
grey mantle. The grey of the lower neck projects a slight 
distance down on each side, forming a partial collar when seen 
from above. The dark brown markings on back and wings 
form, when the latter are extended, a dark mark like a wide in¬ 
verted W. 
While birds may be seen at sea all day, there is no sign of life 
at the nesting place until nightfall. At 9 p.m. on the 23rd, the 
moon being full, the inlet in which our launch lay was filled with 
the silently gliding forms of the Shearwaters on their way from 
the sea to their burrows in the hillsides. Only occasionally did 
one utter a plaintive call, in tone like a kitten's mewing, but more 
high-pitched and raspy. These were probably the male birds, 
as all the sitting birds examined on the following day were found 
to be females. On being taken from the burrows they offered 
varying degrees of resistance, using their sharp bills with dex¬ 
terity and precision. Some of them uttered a long series of 
double calls, consisting of a sound like a young child's cry, with 
a sobbing intake at the end. They were quite dazed on first 
coming into the daylight, and would sit on the cliff edge for 
some seconds before waddling down the slope and finally gliding 
at a 6harp angle down to the sea. One bird whose burrow had 
been opened blundered into another occupied burrow near by. In 
two seconds intruder and owner emerged with bills interlocked 
and wings flapping, the contest lasting until the former took 
flight: 
An account of the habits of the bird would not be complete 
without some reference to the Tuatara Lizard ( Sphenodon 
punctatus). This ancient aristocrat, whose lineal descent can 
be traced back to the Permian Era, is now confined to a few 
islands off the New Zealand coast, where it is frequently to be 
found in or near the burrows of nesting Petrels. On the Poor 
Knights it favours, or possibly troubles, Buffer's Shearwater with 
its company. Tuataras were found at the entrance to many of 
the burrows, or just inside, and although no resentment was 
shown by the Shearwaters at the intrusion of these creatures, 
the reptile seemed unwilling to approach a sitting bird, even when 
