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.
[Page 30]
[Illustration: [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] [57]]
=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.
[Page 31]
=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.
[Page 32]
[Illustration: [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] [63]]
=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.
[Page 33]
=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.
====
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.
====
[Page 34]
[Illustration: [64] [65] [66] [67] [68] [69]]
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.
[Page 35]
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.
[Page 38]
[Illustration: [81] [87] [102] [106] [107] [109] [119] [123] [125]]
=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
[Page 40]
[Illustration: [70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75]]
=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.
====
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.
The Banded Stilt is a purely Australian bird, and has no
representative in other countries. These and some other shore-birds
live about tidal flats, and get their food in the soft mud. Their long
bill is often flexible, and the tip is sometimes well supplied with
nerves, so that it is sensitive. The bird can thus detect, in the soft
mud, any animal that would serve for food. It can then open its bill
enough to catch the animal without trouble. The Avocet's bill is
sharply curved upwards, and is one of the most remarkable of such
organs. The Australian Avocet is one species of a cosmopolitan genus.
Some of the Dottrels live on the dry, open plains of the interior;
others frequent the beaches and shores.
When a bird of prey appears, these plain-living birds squat quite
flat, placing even the head flat on the ground. They thus escape
detection, for the protective coloring of these birds and of their
eggs is marvellous. The story of how a photograph of a Dottrel's nest
was obtained is of value to teachers, for it will remind us that it
is not well to neglect the three R's, and that Nature-study alone
will not give a complete education. Three bird-lovers spent some time
trying to find this nest, while the parent birds flew noisily around.
Suspecting at last that the birds' knowledge of numbers was probably
deficient, the three hid behind a log. Two then walked away. The birds
immediately returned to the nest, and a valuable photograph was the
result. A training in Nature-study, valuable as it undoubtedly is, is
thus not all of our work.
The Painted Snipe breeds in Australia, but the Australian Snipe breeds
in Japan, so it, properly speaking, is not an Australian bird. Think
of the journey twice a year! Six of these wading-birds even visit New
Zealand each year. How do they find their way there, across a gap
of over 1000 miles, without any land whatever? Inherited memory is
strong, but how did the first batches find their way? Their annual
journey supports the geographer in his surmise that Australia at no
very distant date extended very much farther to the east. Indeed,
these birds almost certainly follow the old coast of the Australian
continent.
Snipe, some Plovers, Dottrels, Curlews (Sea), Whimbrels, Godwits, &c.,
thus go to the North each year to partake of the abundant banquet
of fruits, &c., preserved in the great ice chamber of the North.
Numberless flocks of birds follow up the melting ice, and so nest
unmolested on the great tundras and plains of Siberia. They wear their
bright wedding dress in the far North, and are known here only in the
quiet mottled browns and grays. In autumn these birds depart. They
travel mostly at night, to avoid Birds of Prey, and so are seldom
seen, though they may be heard calling as they pass high overhead.
They are occasionally seen with the aid of telescopes as they pass
across the face of the moon.