. 89 
is the common tyrant of all the smaller birds, and destroys 
them in multitudes. There are two species of Sterna, the 
S. stolida, and one which varies very little from the S. Hirundo. 
The former builds in trees, and lays a solitary egg. I never 
saw the nest of the latter. — 
* The Crested Penguin (Aptenodytes Chrysocoma) conceals 
itself among the long grass, and in the bottoms of the ravines 
where they open upon the shore. Here they assemble in 
countless multitudes, and keep up a moaning noise which can 
be heard at a great distance; and combined with the roar of 
. the surge, re-echoed from the mountain and the bold inhos- 
pitable coast around you, is calculated to excite a train of 
ideas by no means pleasant. It is owing, perhaps, to the 
scantiness of its plumage, that the Penguin swims heavier 
than any other bird, no part except the head appearing 
above water. This gives it undoubtedly a peculiar facility of 
diving and pursuing its prey under the water; with the same 
view, perhaps, its eyes appear to be uncommonly sensible to 
the stimulus of light. In every bird that I had an opportunity 
of examining, the pupil was contracted to a mere dot. 
** There are no reptiles of any kind on the island, and the 
only insects I observed are three small species of Curculio, 
four of Phalena, one of Hippobosca, two of Musca, one 
Tipula, one Spheroma, and one Oniscus. The latter has 
multiplied astonishingly in the soft vegetable soil, and proved 
a great nuisance to us, creeping up the roofs of our tents and 
dropping thence upon our beds during the night. The com- 
mon window-fly of the Cape was not observed until two 
months after our arrival; but before I left the island it began 
to be troublesome. 
« The Flora of Tristan da Cunha is as copious, perhaps, as 
the situation and extent of the island would warrant us to 
expect; but with the exception of cryptogamous peni it offers 
nothing of peculiar interest. " 
* "The only plant on the island that approaches to ree size 
of a tree is a species of Phylica. This plant occupies not only 
the whole of the plain, but has also spread over the face of the 
mountain, wherever its roots could insinuate themselves into 
