Part 4

=40 Wedge-tailed Petrel= (Shearwater), _Puffinus sphenurus_, A. seas.

v.r. _ocean_ 17.5

Sooty-brown; wing blackish; tail black; throat ashy-gray; under dull ashy-brown; bill lead color; legs, feet livid flesh color, dusky on inner side of leg and toe. Like 42, but tail longer; f., sim. Food as for 41.

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=41 Allied Petrel=, Gould Shearwater (Little Dusky), _P. assimilis_, A. and N.Z. Seas, Atl. O. to Madiera Is., Nova Scotia (acc.).

Flocks v.r. _ocean_ 11

Upper, crown, wings, tail sooty-black; side face, under white; side-chest dusky; bill dark horn-colour; legs greenish-yellow; f., sim. Shrimps, shellfish, seaweed.

=42 Short-tailed Petrel= (Sooty, Bonaparte), Slender-billed Shearwater (U.S.), Seal-Bird, Mutton-Bird (V.), _P. brevicaudus (tenuirostris)_, A., Bass St., T., N.Z. Migrates to Alaska, Japan.

Flocks, c. _ocean_ 14

Sooty-brown; under paler; bill blackish-brown; legs, feet light-grey, black down outer side. Food as 41.

3 3

=43 Brown Petrel= (Great-Gray), Black-tailed Shearwater (U.S.), Night Hawk (e), Bully, Kuia, _Procellaria (Priofinus) cinereus_, S.O., California (once).

r. _ocean_ 19.5

Crown, upper dark brownish-gray; under white; under base tail ashy-brown; tail black; feet grayish-flesh color; outer toe brownish-black; dives; f., sim.

1 1

=44 Silver-gray Petrel= (Fulmar), Slender-billed Fulmar (U.S.), _Priocella glacialoides_, Bass St., A., T., N.Z., S. Oceans, Pacific to Japan, Alaska.

c. _ocean_ 18

Pearly-gray; tip-wing black; face, under silky-white; f., sim. Dead animals, oil, cuttlefish.

3 3

=45 Black Petrel= (Fulmar), Taonui, _Procellaria (Majaqueus) parkinsoni_, A. and N.Z. Seas.

r. _ocean_ 18

Sooty black; f., sim. Food see 41.

9 32

=46 Great-winged Petrel= (Long-winged, Gray-faced), _AEstrelata macroptera_, A., N.Z., S. Oceans.

v.r. _ocean_ 15

Dark brown; about bill, throat gray; wing-quills, tail black; bill, feet black; f., sim. Food see 41.

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=47 Brown-headed Petrel=, Solander Fulmar, _AE. solandri_, 1 specimen only, Gould, Bass St.

u. _ocean_ 16

Head, wings, tail dark-brown; back slaty-gray, marked dark-brown; bill, legs black.

=48 White-winged Petrel=, _AE. leucoptera_, A., N.Z. to C. Horn, Fiji.

r. _ocean_ 13

Upper dark slaty-gray; forehead, face, under, under wing white; wings blackish-brown; eyes, bill black; legs, half toes and webs fleshy-white; tip toes and webs black; f., sim.

1 1

=49 Giant Petrel= (Fulmar), Mother Carey's Goose, Nelly, Glutton, Stinkpot, Vulture of the Seas, _Macronectes gigantea_, S. Oceans up to 30 deg. S. Lat. Oregon (acc).

c. _ocean_ 33

Dark chocolate-brown; bill horn-color; has also a white phase; f., sim. Scavenger, omnivorous.

1 1

=50 Cape-Petrel= (Pintado, Black and White, Spotted, Pied), Cape-Pigeon (-Fulmar), _Daption capensis_, A., N.Z., S. Oceans to Brazil, Ceylon, Peru, acc. to California, Maine, England.

Large flocks c. _ocean_ 16.5

Head, hind-neck, upper-back, edge of wing, quills, chin sooty-brown; inner-wing, back white, broadly spotted sooty-brown; under white; bill, feet blackish-brown; f., sim. Food as 41.

5 5

=51 Blue Petrel=, _Prion (Halobaena) coerulea_, S. Oceans, A., T., N.Z. to Icepack, Fiji.

c. _ocean_ 11

Forehead, cheeks, throat, centre-chest, under white; upper grayish-blue; outer wing-quills black; tail square, tipped white; bill blackish-brown; f., sim. Cuttlefish, shellfish.

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=52 Broad-billed Dove-Petrel= (Blue-), Whale-Bird, Prion, _P. vittatus_, S. Oceans.

c. _ocean_ 11.5

Upper delicate blue-gray; head darker than back; edge shoulder, wing, tip-tail black; under, line over eye, white; flanks blue; broad bill blue tipped black; feet light-blue; f., sim. Cuttlefish.

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=53 Banks Dove-Petrel= (Blue-), Prion, Whiroia, _P. banksi_, S. Oceans, A., T., N.Z.

r. _ocean_ 10

Like 52, but bill narrower and paler blue-gray; expanded wings show black marks like letter W. Food as 54.

=54 Dove-Petrel=, Dove-like-Petrel (-Prion), Whale-Bird (Snow-), _P. desolatus_, S. Oceans.

c. _ocean_ 10.5

Like 52, 53, but more delicate; blackish below eye; white stripe above eye; head same as back; bill straighter, more slender; f., smaller. Shellfish, oily substances.

=55 Fairy Dove-Petrel= (-Prion), Short-billed (Gould) Blue-Petrel, _P. brevirostris (ariel)_, S. Indian O., A., Bass St., Madeira, S. Africa.

v.r. _ocean_ 9.5

Like 52, 53, 54, but bill shorter, stouter; head same as back; white face.

F. 29. PELECANOIDIDAE (1), DIVING PETRELS, 3 sp.--2(0)A., 1(0)E., 3(1)Nl.

1 3

=56 Diving-Petrel=, Smaller Diving Petrel, Tee-tee, _Pelecanoides urinatrix_, A., N.Z., Str. of Magellan.

r. _sheltered bays_ 8

Upper black; under white; legs, feet blue; dives; f., sim. Shellfish.

F. 30. DIOMEDEIDAE (10), ALBATROSSES, Mollymawks, 19 sp.--13(3)A., 2(0)O., 5(0)P., 5(1)E., 5(0)Nc., 9(3)Nl.

7 17

=57 Wandering Albatross=, Man-of-War-Bird, Cape Sheep, Toroa, _Diomedea exulans_, S. Oceans up to Lat. 30 deg. S.

c. _ocean_ 44

Upper white with fine zigzag brown lines; wing-quills black; tail short, black above; side face, under white; zigzag lines on side of breast; bill whitish; color varies with age; span up to 14 ft.; f., sim. Jelly-fish, shrimps, shellfish.

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=58 Royal Albatross=, _D. regia_, A., T., N.Z. Seas.

c. _ocean_ 44

Lately separated from 57, because young have white down instead of gray; adult has no zigzag lines; f., sim. Food see 57.

=59 Black-browed Albatross= (Mollymawk), _D. melanophrys_, S. Oceans, England (once).

v.c. _ocean_ 32

Head, neck, under, upper base tail white; blackish-gray streak through eye; wings dark brown; back slaty-black; tail dark-gray; bill buff-yellow; f., young sim. Fish.

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=60 White-capped Albatross=, shy Mollymawk, _D. (Thalassageron) cauta_, A. Seas, Bass St.

c. _ocean_ 31

Back slaty-gray; rump white; wings dark-gray; tail slaty-gray; head, neck, under white; blackish streak through eye; bill horn-color; f., smaller. Fish, barnacles, shrimps.

=61 Flat-billed Albatross=, (Yellow-nosed (e), Gray-headed), Gould Yellow-nosed Mollymawk, _D. chrysostoma (culminata)_, A., Indian O., Pacific O., Oregon (cas.) G. of St. Lawrence (cas.).

r. _ocean_ 28

Back, wings, tail dark grayish-black; head, neck gray; faint blackish streak through eye; under, rump white; bill black, tip, crest, lower-edge yellow, f., sim. Food see 60.

=62 Yellow-nosed Albatross= _D. chlororhynchus_, S. Atl. O., S. Ind. O., A., T.

c. _ocean_ 30

Under, head, neck, rump white; back, wings brownish-black, tail brownish; bill black, crest bright orange-yellow, tip blood-orange; faint dark streak through eye; f., sim. Food see 60.

1 1

=63 Sooty Albatross=, _Phoebetria palpebrata (fuliginosa)_, S. Oceans, Oregon (cas.), A., N.Z.

c. _oceans_ 29.5

Sooty-brown; white ring almost round eye; bill black; f., sim. Food as 60.

F. 31. _Alcidae_, Auk, Garefowl, Puffin, Razorbill, Guillemot, Murre, 28 sp.--22(1)P., 27(6)Nc.

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The birds of Order IX. are mainly shore birds. There are four chief kinds of these--Terns (Sea-Swallows), including Noddy Terns, Gulls, the remarkable northern Skimmers, which skim along the surface with the lengthened end of the lower mandible in the water, and the bold sea-pirates, Skuas. Fifty-seven Terns and Noddies are found throughout the world. Of these, twenty-one have been recorded from Australian waters.

Being powerful flyers, it is not surprising to find that several of the Australian Terns are really Old-World, and even New-World, forms too. Thus the Whiskered (Marsh) Tern is also British. The Caspian, Gull-billed, and Bridled (Brown-winged) Terns are British and American, while the Sooty Tern is found in all tropical and sub-tropical seas. It is one of the famous birds of the world, for it is the "egg bird" of sailors. It retires in large companies to low scrubby islands to breed. Here it lays a single egg on the bare ground. Sailors, tired of ship's fare, often visit these "rookeries." Gould quotes a record of one party which took 1500 dozen eggs on one small island in Torres Strait. Spanish eggers from Havanah take cargoes, which are disposed of at 25 cents per gallon.

The Wide-Awake Fair, of Ascension Island, is a famous annual event in natural history. A similar scene has been described by Mr. A. W. Milligan, the well-known West Australian ornithologist, on the Houtman Abrolhos Island, west of Western Australia. Here acres of the ground were covered by birds sitting on their nests. The question is, does each find its own nest when it returns to sit? Mr. Milligan settled this in the affirmative by tying a piece of string to a sitting bird and then letting it take flight. It found its own egg, and resumed its work. It is noteworthy that no two of the million eggs are similarly marked, and this puzzling variation in marking probably assists each bird to recognize its own egg.

One of the daintiest of these birds is the Fairy Tern, which was common on Mud Island while the 1909 Summer School was being held. Obedient to the call of the mother bird, which hovered threateningly overhead, the mottled and striped young one squatted on the shelly sand beach while bird-lovers hunted around for the material for a photograph. At length the dark eye revealed the beautifully-protected young bird.

As the camera was being fixed, a different call from the mother caused the young one to run away. Three or four naturalists tried to catch the active little bird, which stopped for a moment and disgorged two whole small fish, with which its mother had evidently but recently fed it. Eventually a good picture was obtained. These Terns nest singly, though others nest in large companies. They obtain fish by diving into the sea. It was interesting, on a Nature-study excursion, to watch the Crested Terns diving frequently into the sea above a shoal of small fish at Sandringham.

We found the Noddies breeding in thousands on Mast Head Island, in the Capricorn Group. They built a small platform of leaves, or seaweed, high or low, on every possible nesting site on the great _Pisonia_ trees. In fact, there is an interesting kind of partnership between the bird and the tree. The fruits of the _Pisonia_ have bands of sticky glands, which adhere to the plumage of the birds. After a time the fruits fall off, possibly on another island, and so this interesting tree is spread throughout these small coral sandbanks and islets. The birds are sometimes so loaded and clogged with these fruits that they are incapable of flight. Surely here is a wonderful partnership between the tree-frequenting Noddy and the forest tree that provides shelter and nesting places for it. It is, indeed, a marvellous method of seed dispersal.

The number of ocean birds breeding on these tiny island-paradises is amazing. Minute Mast Head Island is a place free of all pests--no flies, no mosquitoes, no ticks, no snakes, nor prickly plants, but a deep shady forest of giant _Pisonia_ trees, sometimes covered with creepers and lianas, and fringed with pretty flowering shrubs, fig trees, and long green grass, and surrounded, above spring-tide level, by a fringe of graceful Horse-tail Sheoaks (Casuarinas). We calculated that over 100,000 birds bred annually on this 100-acre sandbank, no point of which rose 10 feet above spring-tide level. The graceful White-capped Noddies already mentioned nested high and low on the trees and shrubs. Petrels in thousands burrowed in the sand under the giant _Pisonias_, which are so thickly foliaged that not enough light penetrates to enable undergrowth to flourish, so the sand was practically bare in the centre of the island. Reef Herons nested low on spreading branches or interlacing roots. Silver Gulls and Oyster-catchers nested on the ground, within about a yard of the spring-tide mark; Doves, Silver-eyes, Bell-Magpies (_Streperas_), Caterpillar-eaters, Kingfishers, and other land birds nested in the trees, while the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (almost a fac-simile of the Bald Eagle of America) had his nest overlooking all, on the highest tree on the island. The Frigate Birds were not nesting on Mast Head Island, but they roosted each night in the tall Sheoaks at the water's edge. It was a treat, in the late afternoon, to see these glorious birds winding up their invisible staircase into the vast void of upper air. Gloriously and calmly they sailed up and up, until the merest speck only could be seen. Of corals, turtles, and other marvels we may not speak here. The migrating wading-birds had just reached the island after their long journey from Siberian Tundras. Some were so poor that we caught Sandpipers by hand. Flocks of Turnstone, Golden Plover, Godwits, Curlew, and other wading-birds were there, possibly only resting before continuing their journey to the South. It was indeed a privilege to live on such a spot for nine days and to see Nature in some of her most interesting phases.

The two Australian Seagulls illustrate the "law of representatives" so often referred to by Gould. It is strange how often a closely similar representative of a Northern bird is found in Australia. Thus the big Pacific Gull is the representative of the large Gull of Europe, though its peculiar deepened and orange-colored bill is distinctive. It does not gain its beautiful white and black plumage until it is three or more years old, being brown in the first year, and brown and white in the second year.

The Silver Gull is known to all. Though a dainty-looking bird, it has a bad character. It is worse than any bird of prey for stealing eggs and young birds, for let a gannet or other nesting bird but leave the nest for a moment, and Gulls quickly rob it of its contents. They are scavengers, and eagerly follow a steamer at lunch-time to gather the scraps. An interesting sight of Currie Harbor, King Island, is to see the large company of Seagulls nesting undisturbed on a tiny, bare, rocky islet close to the pier.

It was noted that, whenever the Noddies were disturbed, and rose, protesting loudly, the Gulls immediately gathered and hovered over the trees containing Noddies' nests. Evidently they were looking for unprotected eggs.

Placed in the next family are the seven robber Gulls or sea pirates--Skuas. We read of these birds in the old _Royal Readers_, but few recognized them when they followed us to the Summer School of 1910. They also followed our afternoon-tea cruise to South Channel fort, and played their usual game of compelling the Seagulls to give up the scraps they had gathered. The Robber Gull, or Skua, of Victoria is, strange to say, identical with the Skua of England. The one that followed the s.s. _Lady Loch_ to the Summer School is better known in England as the Arctic Gull or Richardson Skua. It breeds in the far North, so it is a great traveller.

One interesting fact about these birds is that they show two sets of plumage. Thus, while each bird, as it gets older, usually changes its immature and almost uniform dusky plumage for a white under-surface, an incomplete white collar, and a blackish cap, yet some retain the dusky plumage throughout life. This is a good example of "dimorphism," as it is termed. Usually, instead of picking up their own prey, they watch until some other bird has captured a meal, and then they rapidly pursue it and cause it to disgorge. They do not skim over the waves like Petrels, but show a heavy, labored flight, varied by a short soar. As the two centre tail feathers project beyond the rest, the birds can be readily identified as they follow a steamer for tit-bits.

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ORDER IX.--LARIFORMES.

F. 32. LARIDAE (21), TERNS, NODDIES, GULLS, Skimmers, 125 sp.--32(13)A., 35(3)O., 45(1)P., 42(6)E., 43(5)Nc., 46(19)Nl.

2 4

=64 Whiskered Tern= (Marsh), _Hydrochelidon fluviatilis (hybrida)_, Eur. (Br.) to China, Malay, Afr. to A.

r. _swamps (inland)_ 11

Head black; upper, wings, tail light-gray; face, throat, tail white; chest dark-gray; abdomen black; bill blood-red; winter, head grayish-white; f., sim. Water-insects, small fish.

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1 1

=65 Gull-billed Tern= (Long-legged), _Gelochelidon macrotarsa (anglica)_, cos. [~65-66 _Genus Thalasseus._]

r. _rivers_, _swamps inland_ 17

White; crown, hind-neck black; upper, wing-quills silvery-gray; bill long, stout, black; long legs and feet black; winter head white streaked black; f., sim. Small fish, insects.

1 1

=66 Caspian Tern=, Taranui, _Sterna (Hydroprogne) caspia_, cos. exc. S. Amer. [~65-66 _Genus Thalasseus._]

c. _shore_ 20.5

Head, hind-neck black; back, wings, tail pale-gray; dark-gray wing-quills; under white; bill scarlet; dives; f., smaller. Fish.

10 37

=67* Crested Tern= (Swift, Rueppell, Bass-St., Torres-St.), Village Blacksmith, _Sterna bergii_, Red S., Indian O., to Japan to A., Pac. Is.

v.c. _ocean_ 17

Crown, crest black; forehead, sides and back of neck, under, white; back, wings, tail dark-gray; bill yellow; legs, feet black; f., sim. Fish.

=68 White-fronted Tern= (Southern), _S. striata (frontalis)_, E.A., T., N.Z.

c. _shore_ 13

Upper delicate-gray; wing-quills grayish-black; forehead, side-neck, under white; bill, about eye, hind-neck black; f., sim. Small fish.

=69 Bridled Tern= (Brown-winged, Panayan, Smaller-Sooty), _S. anaestheta_, tropical, sub-tropical seas.

v.c. _shore_ 14.5

Upper light sooty-brown; forehead, line over eye, throat, under white; crown, nape, line from bill past eye black; bill, legs, feet black; like 70, but smaller; back, wings brown; f., sim. Fish.

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=81= Black-breasted Plover =87= Black-fronted Dottrel =102= Sharp-tailed Sandpiper =106= Australian Snipe =107= Australian Painted Snipe =109= Southern Stone-Curlew =119= White-fronted Heron =123= Nankeen Night Heron =125= Australian Bittern

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=70 Sooty Tern=, Wide-awake, Egg-bird, _S. fuliginosa_ (_S. fuscata_, A.O.U.), tropical, sub-tropical seas, Br. (acc). [~70 _Sterna fuscata._]

v.c. _shores_ 17

Upper, crown, wings, line from bill past eye, tail black; forehead, under white; bill, feet black; like 69, but larger, blacker above; f., sim. Fish, squid. "Oo-ee."

=71* White-faced Ternlet=, Sea-swallow, Little (Fairy) Tern, Taraiti, _S. nereis_, A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Little Tern.

c. _shore_ 10.5

Upper silvery-gray; under, rump, tall, forehead white; crown, hind-neck black; bill, feet orange-yellow; f., sim. Small fish.

[Page 41]

1 45

=72* Silver Gull= (Jameson), Seagull, Sea Pigeon, _Larus novae-hollandiae_, A., T., N. Cal., N.Z. (acc).

Stat. c. _shore_, _inland_ 17.5

Head, neck, under, rump, tail white; back, wings delicate-gray; wing-tips white and black bars; bill, legs, feet blood-red; eye white; f., sim. Scraps, eggs, omnivorous.

1 1

=73* Pacific Gull= (Larger), _Gabianus pacificus_. A., T. =vt. Eur. Greater Black-backed Gull.

Stat. c. _shore_ 25

"This fine gull;" head, neck, under white; tail white barred black; back, wings slaty-black; eye white; legs yellow; deepened bill orange tipped red; f., smaller; young up to 4 years mottled-brown, becoming more like adult each year. Fish, crabs, carrion.

F. 33. STERCORARIIDAE (4), SKUAS, Robber Gulls, Sea Pirates, 7 sp.--4(0)A., 1(0)O., 4(0)P., 3(0)E., 4(0)Nc., 4(1)Nl.

1 4

=74 Great Southern Skua=, Robber Gull, Port-Egmont-Hen, Sea-Hawk, Hakoakoa, _Megalestris antarctica_, S. Oceans, A., N.Z. =vt. Eur. Great Skua. [~74 _Catharacta._]

Mig. r. _shores_ 23

Upper blackish-brown; under chocolate-brown; wing white patch; centre tail feathers project 1/2in.; f., sim. Stolen fish, carrion.

2 3

=75 Richardson Skua= (Arctic), Arctic (Parasite) Gull, Long-tailed Jaeger, Sea-Pirate, Boatswain-Bird, Teaser, _Stercorarius crepidatus_, cos. [~75 _Catharacta parasitica._]

Mig. r. _shores_ 20

Dimorphic (two phases)--1. Dusky upper; blackish cap; narrow whitish collar; under white; brown band on chest; brown band on wing; centre tail feathers project 3ins.; strong bill, claws. 2. Under mottled and barred brown and whitish; follow bay steamers; f., sim. Stolen fish.

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The fifty Australian birds included in the important order of Waders are remarkably like such birds found inhabiting other regions of the globe, shore conditions apparently being somewhat similar the world over. It is interesting to note that thirteen of the forty-four Australian members of this family of Plover-like birds are also found in Britain, and that most of the others are direct representatives of closely-related birds found in other Countries. No less than twenty-eight of these birds are merely visitors here, for they breed away in the far North. Many even nest within the Arctic Circle, in Siberia, for it is a rule that a migrating bird nests in the colder of the two countries visited. Strictly, these twenty-eight species are Siberian, or at least northern, forms, and not Australian birds.

Many members of this group undergo a seasonal change of plumage when breeding time comes. As they spend this season in the Northern Hemisphere, we do not see them in their brilliant colors, but in quiet, mottled browns and grays.

Some are "accidental" visitors to Australia. Possibly they find their way here by getting mixed with a company of allied birds on their annual journey south. Thus the Common (British) Sandpiper is a very rare bird here, though it retains its British name--Common Sandpiper. Similarly, other European and American birds have been recorded, and the number of these far-wandering birds recorded from Australia is likely to be still further increased. The stout, short-legged Turnstone is the most cosmopolitan of birds. Breeding in Siberia, so widely does it roam, that it has visited almost every shore in the world, where, true to name, it turns the stones in search of sandhoppers.

The two "Oyster-catchers"--"Redbills"--are representatives of similar birds found almost the world over. Their deepened, flat bill is said to serve as a pick-axe to force open oysters and mussels. We found one or two pairs on almost every shore we visited about Bass Strait, on Eyre Peninsula, and on the Barrier Reef.

The two common Plovers--the Spurwing and Black-breasted--do not migrate, so we see them in brighter colors. Still, though bright when noticed, they are yet wonderfully protected, as they stand quite still. I felt great astonishment on finding that I had driven, near Lake Tyrrell, into the midst of a company of over a thousand Black-breasted Plovers, not noticed until the eye picked out one and then another. It recalled to mind the scene in the _Lady of the Lake_, when Fitz James found the hillside alive with Roderick Dhu's warriors.

The White-headed Stilt, or Long-legged Plover, is one of five species spread throughout the world. Some people have pretended to pity the Stilt for being one of Nature's misfits, but surely they never saw the bird in a state of nature enjoying life, and gaining an easy living on shallow tidal flats, its long legs being a beautiful adaptation to the environment in which it lives.