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Show 140 ZOOLOGY OF TilE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. I lmve often observed in the southern seas, a bird similar in every respect to the Nelly, excepting in its plumage, being of a much more intense black, and its bill rather whiter. I procured a specimen thus coloured, at Port Famine, and had concluded that it was a distinct species, until Mr. Low, (an excellent practical observer, long acquainted during his sealing voyages with the productions of these seas,) assured me that he positively knew, that these black varieties were the one-year-old birds of the common greyish black Nelly. 2. PROCELLARIA GLACIALO.iDES. A. Smith. Procollaria glacialoldos, .A. Smith, Illust. of Zoo!. of S. Africa, Aves, pl. 51. I saw this petrel on both sides of the Continent south of lat. 30°; but seldom more than two or three together. I am informed that it arrives in Georgia in September for the purpose of breeding, and that it lays its eggs in holes in the precipices overhanging the sea. On the approach of winter it is said to retire from that island. My specimen was caught in the Bay of St. Mathias (lat. 43° S.) by a line and bent pin, baited with a small piece of pork; the same means by which the Pintado (Dapt. Capensis) is so easily caught. It is a tame, sociable, and silent bird; and often settles on the water: when thus resting it might from a distance be mistaken, owing to the general colour of its plumage, for a gull. One or two often approached close to the stem of the Beagle, and mingled with the Pintados, the constant attendants on vessels traversing these southern seas. D APTION CAPENSis. Steplt. Procellaria Capensis, Linn. Syst. i. 213. This petrel is extremely numerous over the whole southern ocean, south of the Tropic of Capricorn. On the coast, however, of Peru, I saw them in lat. from l6°to J 7° S., which is considerably farther north than they are found on the shores of Brazil. Cook, in sailing south in the meridian of New Zealand, first met this bird in lat. 43° 30'. The Pintados slightly difl'er in some of their habits from the rest of their congeners, but, perhaps, approach in this respect nearest to P. glucialoides. They are very tame and sociable, and follow vessels navigating these seas for many days together: when the ship is becalmed, or is moving slowly, they often alight on the surface of the water, and in doing this they expand their tails like a fan. I think they always take their food, when thus swimming. When ofl'al is thrown overboard, they frequently dive to the depth of a foot or two. 1'hey are very apt to quarrel over their food, and they then utter many harsh but not loud cries. Their flight is not rapid, but extremely elegant; and as these prettil~ mottled birds skim the surface of the water in graceful curves, constantly followmg the vessel as she drives onward in her course, they afford a spectacle BIRDS. 141 which is beheld by ~very one with interest. Although often spendin()' the whole day o~ the wing, yet on a nne moonlight night, I have repeatedlyseenbthese birds followmg the wake of the vessel, with their usual graceful evolutions. I am informed that the Pintado arrives in Georgia for the purpose of breeding, ancl leaves it, at the same time with the P. glacialo'ides. The sealers do not know any other island in the Antarctic ocean excepting Georgia, where these two birds (as well as the Thalassidroma oceanica) resort to breed. THALASSIDROMA OCEANICA. Bonap. Thalas~idroma oceauicn, Bonap. Journ. Acad. Nat. Scien., l'hiladelphia, vol. iii. p. 233. Procellaria oceanica, Forster. Petrel echasse. Temm. I obtained this bhd at Maldonado, near the mouth of the Plata, where it was blown on shore by a gale of wind. These birds, although seeming to prefer on most occasions the open ocean, and to be most active, walking with their wings expanded on the crest of the waves, when the gale is heaviest, yet sometimes visit quiet harbours, in considerable numbers. At Bahia Blanca I saw many, when there was nothing in the weather to explain their appearance. I was informed Ly a sealer, that they build in holes on the sea cliffs of Georgia, where they arrive very regularly in the month of September. No other place is known to be frequented by them for the purpose of breeding. PRION VITTATUs. Cuv. Procellaria Vittata, Grnelin. Syst. i. 560. I did not procure a specimen of tl1is bird, although I saw numbers on both sides <Jf' the Continent from about lat. .'35° S. to Cape Horn. It is a wild solitary bird, appears always to be on the wing: flight extremely rapid. Mr. Stokes (Assistant surveyor of the Beagle) informs me that they build in great numbers on Landfall Island, on the west coast of Tierra del Fuego. Their burrows are about a yard deep : they are excavated on the hill-sides, at a distance even of half a mile from the sea shore. If a person stamps on the ground over their nests, many fly out of the same hole. Mr. Stokes says the eggs are white, elongated, and of the size of those of a pigeon. ] • LARUS FULIGINOSUS. Gould. L. Mas. corpore toto obscure plurnbeo-griseo, tegminibus caudce superioribus inferioribusque pallidiorihus; 1·ostro basi r~tbro, apice nigro ,· pedibus nig1·is. Long. tot. 16 ~ uno.; al<D, 13~: caudw, G; tarsi, 2i ; rostri 2g. I |
