THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



U. S. S. Albatross in Borja Bay. Straits of Magellan. 



a century later, and had read the quaint descriptions of the region by 

 Magellan, Drake, Cook and the hardy sea explorers who followed them. 



Out in the straits whales, porpoises and seals made their presence 

 known at times, but sea birds were more constant objects of interest. 

 The nesting places of cormorants were marked by masses of black- 

 backed, white-breasted birds, acres in extent. From low island levels 

 Cassin terns rose in clouds of protesting thousands when our boats 

 grounded. 



" Steamer " ducks 2 kept well ahead of the active oarsmen, their 

 flightless wings aiding their webbed feet in a manner suggestive of 

 paddle wheels used as auxiliaries to screw propellers, trailing a foamy 

 wake a hundred yards behind. The species belongs exclusively to 

 southern South America and is altogether the most notable bird of the 

 straits region. It is said to weigh over fifteen pounds. While it can 

 not, or at least does not, fly, and is seldom inclined to dive, the rapidity 

 of its progress over the surface long ago attracted the attention of 

 explorers and navigators. Most observers are of the opinion that the 

 wings move alternately when in motion. An occasional penguin — that 

 flightless, burly diver, peculiar to Antarctic seas — only showed himself 

 above water in porpoise-like leaps and was seldom easy to get. 



The diving petrel, 3 also Antarctic in range, was by special request 

 a mark for all guns, but no specimens were taken. As a quick diver it 



- Tachyeres cincreus. 

 8 Pelcccmoidcs urinatrix. 



