260 ORNITHOLOGY OF THB SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



ance of the Emperor Penguin, which shares with this species the distinction of being 

 the most southerly representative of its order. On the following day, when the Scotia 

 reached her furthest south (71 25') for the season, the birds were very abundant; and 

 on the return passage to the Orkneys were seen almost daily in considerable numbers. 

 On one occasion some twenty to thirty were observed seated on an iceberg from forty 

 to fifty feet high, to obtain a footing on which others were seen jumping out of the 

 water on to the berg's precipitous, slippery sides, and holding on where Dr Bruce 

 believes no other bird or mammal could. They took advantage of the wash of the sea, 

 but often had to try again and again ere they succeeded in landing on the lowest 

 ledges of the berg. 



During the 1904 voyage this bird was not logged until March 6th, when a few 

 examples were noted in 73 30' S. (21 38' W.). A few more were observed on the 

 northward passage, but not beyond 61 25' S. (12 47' W.). 



Three adults captured on February 23rd, 1903, were still in moult, having only 

 partially assumed their new coats of blue-black tipped with steely blue. The tempera- 

 ture of these specimens was found to be 102-103 C F. 



Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl). 



Oceanites oceanicus Cat. B., xxv. p. 353. 



After the nesting-season this little petrel becomes a great wanderer on the face of 

 the ocean. As such it was almost daily to be seen in numbers, both at sea and among 

 the ice, throughout the voyages of the Scotia being observed as far south as 72 22' S., 

 while northwards it was present in abundance offGough Island (40 19' S.). 



It was one of those birds which followed in the wake of the ship, probably on the 

 look out for scraps cast overboard from the galley. On February 7th, 1903, in lat. 60 

 35' S. and long. 39 44' W., a great number were observed around a dead whale, picking 

 up morsels of fat that fell from the bills of a host of Giant and Cape Petrels, which 

 were regaling themselves to repletion on the blubber of the defunct leviathan. On one 

 occasion "a flock" was observed resting on the water in 61 22' (42 W.). 



The Belgica obtained it in the pack in 70 S. (87 W.) ; the Southern Cross found 

 it breeding on Victoria Land ; and Dr Wilson saw it off the Great Ice Barrier in 78 S., 

 some seventy miles from the nearest open water ( Voy. of the " Discovery" ii. pp. 482-3). 



Thalassceca antarctica (Gm.). 

 TJtalassceca antarctica Cat. B., xxv. p. 392. 



The Antarctic Petrel was first encountered by the Expedition on February 17th, 1903, 

 in latitude 64 18' S. (23 09' W.). Afterwards it was much in evidence in the vicinity 

 of and amidst the great polar ice-fields. During the first voyage this bird was seen 

 almost daily, sometime in flocks, its latitudinal range varying from 62 to 70 S., and 

 its longitudinal from 16 to 44 W. 



