oil-bag, which was thrown away, as the oil would spoil the flesh for food. They pluck each bird as they get them, and when a large number are obtained carry them to the camp, where they singe the down off over a fire; then they roast the bird until the fat is extracted, and, placing them in a vessel made of totara bark, they cover them with the fat to keep them air-tight. When preserved in this manner they keep a length of time. I saw the Natives very often preserving them during my researches in the King Country, beginning of 1882; and have eaten and found them excellent. If the Natives disturb any of the Petrels' burrows, they always restore them. These birds, which were very numerous on the Little Barrier Island during the breeding season, I found on my last visit (April and May, 1885), had become very scarce, but I found the remains of many which pigs and dogs had destroyed.

I procured specimens, as you see here: adult, young of different ages, and egg.

ART. XIV. Observations on Gould's Petrel (Hutton), Procellaria gouldi (Ohi), their Habits and Habitats.

By A. REISCHEK, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 27th July, 1885.]

THESE Petrels are common on the coast of New Zealand. I saw them in large flocks out at sea, where they remain from March till August; in the latter month they come ashore to their old breeding places, which they use annually as long as they are not molested. These birds breed in colonies: their burrows are sometimes very close to one another; on the Little Barrier Island (or Hauturu Island) I measured a piece of ground 36 feet in circumference, in the centre of which were six burrows. Their breeding resorts are always on the cliffs along the coast, and some are very difficult to approach, dug out by these Petrels even in hard sandy formation or clay. In August, male and female begin to clean out their old burrows, or dig fresh ones if the former have been disturbed, in a similar manner to the Procellaria parkinsoni. The burrows are from 1 feet to 4 feet apart; the entrance 6 to 10 inches in diameter, the passage in most cases winding, and from 2 to 4 feet deep. chamber is from 14 feet to 2 feet wide, and from 6 inches to 1 foot high; in it is a deepening, with a few leaves and grass, which forms the nest. In the beginning of September the female lays one white egg, the size of that of a common fowl; they very seldom lay two eggs. The female hatches the egg, and the male roams about the ocean in the daytime-sometimes I found them ashore, in a separate burrow from that of the female.

The

After sunset, thick clouds of these Petrels swarm round the cliffs, uttering the melancholy sound "ohi! ohi!" from which the Natives named it "Ohi." Each one' circles round its burrow several times before it goes down to it; then they stop for a moment before entering. These birds go to and from their burrows several times a night. When the young is hatched, the female stops for a few days with her chick in the burrow; after that both parents leave every morning before sunrise, and fly to their haunts on the ocean. Returning after sunset, they circle round the burrows, then swoop down to the entrance and call when answered by the young bird, they enter. If both birds come to the burrow together, one stops outside till the other reappears. When feeding the young they make a whimpering noise. Male and female rear the young together, and defend them; but they are not so vicious as Parkinson's Petrel. In February the young are full-grown, and very fat; the Natives go to collect and preserve them, in the same manner as I have already described in a former paper.

If any of these birds have to be preserved for scientific purposes, great care must be taken to catch the bird by the bill, and hold it tight together until it is killed; then dry sand or earth must be put in the bill, and the neck tied with a string or flax. If these precautions are not taken the birds disgorge an oily substance at the intruder, and over their plumage, which renders them useless. The old birds do the same, if caught directly after their return from the ocean. This oily matter is mostly taken from the Octopus (cuttle-fish), of which I found the remains in their crops. When I was observing their breeding-place in 1882, on the Little Barrier, one of these birds went circling round, but on noticing me would not come down, and kept on calling. I heard the young bird answering from a burrow: when I approached she was instantly quiet. Being a beautiful moonlight night, I went a short distance away to watch. Presently the parents descended, stopped outside the entrance, and went away. The next night I went to my post early, so as to be there before the birds returned from the ocean. When they arrived they circled round as usual, swooped down, and entered the burrow. In July and August, 1882, hundreds of these Petrels were washed ashore on the islands on the East Coast, either dead or exhausted, and were eaten by the wild pigs. I dissected several, but I could not ascertain any other cause of death than the severe storms which raged previously. I never found these Petrels inland, and they have decreased in numbers. I even saw them rooted out by pigs and dogs, on the cliffs, where only narrow ledges led to them. I procured specimens, as you see here: adult, and young.

ART.

XV.-Observations on Cook's Petrel (Grey), Procellaria cooki (Ti Ti), their Habits and Habitats.

By A. REISCHER, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 24 August, 1885.]

THIS pretty little Petrel is not so common as the previous species, according to Dr. Buller, F.R.S., etc.; there have been only a few specimens obtained, and very little is known of their habits, but I have succeeded in observing them carefully. The first time I met with this bird was in December, 1880, on my second research at the Chickens or Morotiri Islands, on the western slope of the larger island, along with the Tuatara (Sphenodon punctatum), in one burrow. Professor von Haast, F.R.S., etc., read a paper of mine before the Philosophical Society, Christchurch, on the latter (see "Transactions, N.Z. Institute," vol. xiv). On the north-eastern portion, near the centre of the Little Barrier or Hauturu Island, in October, 1882, my dog set a burrow; and on digging into it, I was surprised at finding a pair of these Petrels also on this island; they came ashore to clean out their burrows, which process is accomplished with their bill and feet, as I have already described in a previous paper. I measured several of their burrows, and found the average width at the entrance from 4 inches to 6 inches in diameter, and from 4 to 8, and even 12, feet from the entrance to the chamber, of which I always found two in each burrow, and which were from 1 foot to 1 feet long, 1 foot deep, and from 6 inches to 1 foot high; in each chamber is a hollow filled with leaves, moss, or fine grass. I found these burrows even in the stiffest clay, winding about roots and stones. I often worked half a day, and then had to give it up without success. Male and female mutually assist at cleaning out or making fresh burrows. After sunset they begin to call like "ti, ti, ti," repeated rapidly, which is the signal to assemble for their departure to their ocean haunts, from which they do not return till before sunrise; this process goes on nightly till their burrows are cleaned out and the nest made. I built a hut in the centre of the Little Barrier, near one of these burrows, on purpose to make a closer observation of these rare birds. The 1st November, when they returned as usual, early in the morning, I noticed that they made a peculiar noise in their burrows; in about half-an-hour one came out and stopped for a moment, then flew away, and did not return till after sunset, when he flew several times round above the burrow, and then went off again, not returning till next night, when he went into the burrow and made the same gurgling noise as before; after a while a bird came out and flew away, which returned before

sunrise and went into the burrow. After some time one came out, and again flew away. I then examined the burrow, and found a bird sitting on an egg; on dissecting the bird I found it was a female. I never found more than one egg, and always the female sitting on it; the male I have found not far off in a burrow by himself. When the young are hatched, male and female rear them together, and defend them pluckily; the young are full-grown in March, when the Natives collect them for food; the flesh of this species of petrel being the most esteemed by them.

When on shore, the habits of these birds are nocturnal; their breeding places are in the mountains in the interior, they do not breed in colonies as the previous species. When swooping through the air, they make a noise with their wings like the hiss of a bullet speeding through the air. On dissecting the crops of these Petrels I noticed a peculiarity: the absence of oily matter or remains of fish, which is common in most of the Procellaria family. I found animalculæ, minute seeds, and seaweed. In my opinion this Petrel is not destructive to fisheries.

The young of all the species of Procellaria could be made use of for food, if properly prepared. In former times the Natives had, to a great extent, to depend on these birds, and made long expeditions to collect them; the manner of which I have already described in a former paper read before this Institute. I am sorry to say I have found them every year decreasing. When I went on my seasonal researches on my last trip, 1885, on the Little Barrier, I could not see a single specimen of this Petrel; and of the other four species I found numerous on my first visit I found only a few, but plenty of remains such as wings, feathers, etc., destroyed by wild cats, Native dogs, and wild pigs. In former times the Natives protected their breeding places carefully; but now, as they have plenty of other food which is easier to be got, they are left to destruction in all the inhabited places. I procured a few specimens, as you see here: male, female, and egg.

ART. XVI. Observations on Puffinus gavius (Forst.), Rain-bird, (Hakoakoa), their Habits and Habitats.

By A. REISCHEK, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 21st September, 1885.]

THIS Puffin frequents the coast of New Zealand, especially that of the South Island, where I have seen them plentiful, but in the North it is not so common. The plumage of the whole

upper part, including wing and tail, is glossy brownish black, each feather lighter shafted, which is especially noticeable in the larger wing covers; side of the face and neck is greyish brown; throat and under-surface, white; eyes, black; feet, flesh colour, darker on the edge; webs, yellowish; upper part of the bill, blackish brown, lighter at the edges and tip.

The measurement of adult bird, from tip of bill to the end of the tail, is 14 inches. Wing, from flexor to the tips, 8.5; tail, 2.5; bill, from the gape, 1.75; tarsus, 1·5; middle toe, 2.

In December, 1880, I shot a pair of these Puffins, between Morotiri and Taranga Islands, and in the same month I found young birds on the larger Morotiri Island. In October, 1882, on the north-eastern portion of Hauturu Island, I found a female of Puffinus gavius sitting on an egg, and, at the same place, towards the end of November and early in December, I found young birds.

Puffinus gavius come on shore in September, to clean out their burrows or make fresh ones, which they accomplish by digging with the bill and extruding the refuse with their feet; they work during the day, and after sunset they leave for their ocean haunts, returning before sunrise. These birds breed in single pairs. The entrance of the burrow is from 4.5 inches in diameter; the distance to the chamber, from 1 foot 6 inches to 3 feet. The chamber is 1 foot 6 inches long, and about 1 foot 8 inches high; in this there is a deepening with a few leaves, on which, in October, the female lays a white egg, which is 2.35 inches in length, by 1.75. She hatches during the day, when the male is generally out at the ocean, from which he returns after sunset, when the female leaves for the haunts, returning before sunrise, continuing this process till the young birds are a few days old, when both parents absent themselves during the day, but return after sunset to feed their young with an oily substance or matter which they disgorge into their bills. The young birds are covered with darkish grey down, and are fullgrown in March, when they leave the breeding resorts for the ocean. The Natives procure and use them for food. The adult bird makes a noise resembling the cackling of a fowl, especially before bad or wet weather, from which the natives name them Hakoakoa; and at such times, when the Natives hear this bird, they never venture out at sea in their canoes or boats.

Their enemies, besides man, are cats, dogs, and pigs. I procured a series of specimens, as you see here, for observation and examination.