“ Found breeding in prodigious numbers on Raine’s Islet and Bramble Key in May and June, associated with
Noddies (Anoiis stolidus). The Sooty Tern deposits its solitary egg in a slight excavation in the sand without
lining of any kind. The egg varies considerably in its markings. After the party employed in building the bèacon
on Raine’s Islet had been on shore about ten days, and the Terns had had their nests robbed repeatedly, the birds
collected into two or three large flocks and laid their eggs in company, shifting their quarters repeatedly on f in d in g
themselves continually molested ; for new-laid eggs were much in request among people who had for some time
been living upon ship’s fare. By sitting down and keeping quiet I have seen the poor birds dropping their eggs
within two yards of where I sat, apparently glad to get rid of their burthen at all hazards. During the month of
June 1844 about 1500 dozen of eggs were procured by the party upon the Island. About the 20th of June nearly
one half of the young birds (hatched twenty-five or thirty days previously) were able to fly, and many were quite
strong upon the wing. Great numbers of young birds unable to fly were killed for the pot ;—in one mess of
twenty-two men the average number consumed daily in June was fifty, and supposing the convicts (twenty in
number) to have consumed as many, 3000 young birds must have been killed in one month ; yet I could observe
no sensible diminution of the number of young, a circumstance which will give the reader some idea of the vast
numbers of birds of this species congregated on a mere vegetated sand-bank like Raine's Islet.”—J. M‘ Gillivray.
572. Onychoprion P a n a y a ............................................................................................................................ Vol. VII. P(. 33.
Genus A n o u s , L e a c h .
Unlike other Terns which frequent the sea-shores and rivers, the Noddies inhabit the wide ocean, far remote
from land, and which, like the Petrels, they seldom quit, except at the breeding season, when they congregate in
vast multitudes on small islands suited to the purpose. Great nurseries of this kind are to be found In every
ocean ; in the North Atlantic, one of the Tortugas, called Noddy Key, is a favourite resort, and the Bahama Islands
are another ; in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, beside other situations, the Houtmann’s Abrolhos off the
western coast of Australia, are resorted to in such immense numbers that Mr. Gilbert was perfectly astonished at
the multitudes with which he found himself surrounded, upon landing on those remote and little-explored islands.
573. Anoiis s t o l i d u s ................................................................................................................................. Vol. VII. PI. 34,
“ The large Noddy,” says Mr. M‘Gillivray, “ is abundantly distributed over Torres’ Straits, but I never met
with it to the southward of Raine’s Islet, on which, as at Bramble Key, it was found breeding in prodigious
numbers. Unlike its constant associate, thé Sooty Tern, it constructs a shallow nest of small twigs arranged
in a slovenly manner, over which are strewed about a handful of fragments of coral from the beach, shells, and
occasionally portions of tortoise-shell and bones of turtle. The nest is sometimes placed upon the ground, but
more usually upon tufts of grass and other herbage, at about a foot from the ground.”
574. Anoiis melanops, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 35.
575. Anoiis leucocapillus, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 36.
576. Anoiis cinereus, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 37.
Family PROCELLARIDÆ, B o n a p .
There is perhaps no group of birds respecting which so much confusion exists and the extent of whose range
over the ocean is so little known, as that forming the present family.
Having, as I have before stated, paid much attention to these birds during my voyages to and from Australia
and in its neighbourhood, my researches were rewarded by my obtaining a knowledge of at least forty different
species, nearly all of which are peculiar to the seas of the southern hemisphere. The powers of flight with which
these birds are endowed are perfectly astonishing : they appear to be constantly performing migrations round the
globe from west to east ; and Australia lying in their tract, all the species may be found near its shores at one or
other season of the year.
I t is but natural to suppose that this great group of birds has been created for some especial purpose, and may
we not infer, th at they have been placed in the Southern Ocean to prevent an undue increase of the myriads of
mollusks and other low marine animals with which those seas abound, and upon which all the Procellaridce mainly
subsist ?
Genus Diomekba, Linn.
Of this genus, which comprises among its members the. largest of the Oceanic birds, three species range over
the North Pacific Ocean; and six others the seas southward of the equator.
Diomedea exulans, Linn. Vol. VII. PI. 38.
The weight of this species varies from seventeen to twenty pounds, and the expanse of its extended wings
averages the enormous breadth of 11 feet.
578. Diomedea brachyura, Terrm. . . . . . . . . . . - • Vol. VII. PI. 39.
579. Diomedea cauta, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. Pi. 40.
580. Diomedea culminata, Gould . . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 41.
581. Diomedea chlororhynchos, Lath. . . . . . . . . . . . Vol. VII. PI. 42.
582. Diomedea melanophrys, Temm.................................................................. ......... • Vol. VII. PI. 43.
583. Diomedea f u l i g j n o s a ................................................................_ ...........................................Vol. VII. PI. 44.
584. Diomedea gibbosa, Gould.
Diomedea gibbosa, Gould in Aim. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 361.
Face, ear-coverts, chin, abdomen, upper and under tail-coverts w hite; the remainder of the plumage very dark
brown, approaching on the occiput, back of the neck and wings to black; bill yellowish horn-colour,' becoming
darker at the tip and at the base; feet in the dried specimen dark brown, but doubtless of a bluish grey, inclining
to flesh-colour in the living bird.
The above is the description of a specimen in the collection of the Zoological Society of London, to which it
was presented by F. Debell Bennett, Esq., who had procured it in the North Pacific. I t differs from every other
that has come under my notice in the peculiar swollen and raised form of the base of the upper mandible, which
moreover advances high upon the forehead.
585. Diomedea olivaceorhyncha, Gould.
Diomedea olivaceorhyncha, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 361.
I propose this name for a species, examples of which are wanting to our collections, and of which a bill only
has as yet come under my notice. I t is in the possession of Sir Wm. Jardine, Bart., is 3 inches and -f-ths long from
the gape to the tip, of a uniform olive-green, and in form more slender and elegant than that of the other members
of the genus. The locality in which it was procured is not known, but it is supposed to have been obtained in the
Ghina seas.
The last two species were not seen by me in the Australian seas, but are given in order to complete a monograph
of the Diomedece.
Genus P rocellaria, Linn.
Of the fifteen species I have placed in this genus as now restricted, figures of only eight have been given.
586. Procellaria gigantea . . . . . . . . . . .
587. Procellaria ASquinoctialis.
588. Procellaria conspicillata, Gould . . . . . . . . .
589. Procellaria hasitata, Kuhl. . . . . . . . . . .
590. Procellaria Atlantica, Gould.
Procellaria Atlantica, Gould in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. xiii. p. 362,
Vol. VII. PI. 45,
Vol. VII. PI. 46.
Vol. VII. PL 47.