324 M. Garnot on the Zoology of the Falkland Islands. 



scribed by Messrs Quoy and Gaimard, (Podiceps Rollandii) * 

 and another by M. Garnot, (P. occipitalis,) 



The most extraordinary birds of this order, seeming to be 

 almost intermediate between birds and fishes, are the Penguins. 

 They cover the shores of the islands in the bay des Francais. 

 It is truly amusing to see crowds of them marching quite 

 erect, and in regular files. When approached, a signal of 

 alarm is given by some one of the company, and they imme- 

 diately throw themselves upon their bellies to escape the more 

 speedily. If their retreat to the sea be cut off, they are taken 

 without difficulty. Their nests, which may be rather termed 

 deep burrows in the earth, are large enough to contain the 

 whole family, of father, mother, and two young ones. Various 

 navigators have remarked the peculiar dissonance of their cry, 

 which somewhat resembles the braying of an ass. In the pre- 

 sent expedition, the noise produced by them on calm evenings 

 put the hearers in mind of the sound of a populace on a day 

 of rejoicing. Aptenodytes demersa was the most common, but 

 two others were noticed. 



The petrels were exceedingly numerous ; above all, the 

 stormy petrel, P. pelagica and P. Berardi, Quoy and Gaim. 

 Specimens were also procured of the P. gigantea, P. vittata, 

 P. cwrulea, Gm. and a new species named P. Lessonii by M. 

 Garnot, and figured in the Atlas to the Annales des Sciences 

 Naturelles for 1826. Gulls abound almost as much as the 

 petrels, exhibiting the following species : — Larus marinus, L. 

 niveus, L. glatieus, L. argentatvis, and L. ridibundus. The 

 beautiful Sterna hirundo was not unfrequent ; a second spe- 

 cies was observed with a grey head, a specimen of which could 

 not be procured. 



Three distinct species of cormorant inhabit the islands. Pe- 

 lecanus fiber, Gmel. Carbo leucotis, Cuv. and one with a tuft 

 of feathers two inches in length, a white belly and neck, with 

 the remainder of the plumage of a slate blue colour. The 

 Carbo gracidus of Meyer, it is supposed is a mere variety of 

 Pelecanus fiber. 



Only two species of goose presented themselves, Anser leu>- 

 copterus, (of which the female is called A. magellanica, by 



