( 408 ) 



same way of throwing the head back and giving vent to a long sharp whistle. 

 The first time I heard this sound I mistook it for the rush of wings of a 

 frigate-liird darting through the air." 



[Sula brewsteri nesiotis Keller & 8nodgrass. 



Suld neniulis, Heller & Soodgrass ia The Vduihir III, 1111)1, p. 75. 



We have as yet no jiroof that Sula breiv.-:feri or its subspecies nesiotis ever 

 occurs among the Galapagos Islands. Mr. Beck saw these birds on the homeward 

 l)assage ou May Tth, in 1'^ lat. N. and JuT long. AV., and from there up to 

 15° lat. N. and 112" long. W., nearly every day. He says that they were 

 probably birds from Clippcrton rocks, " though some of the last may have been 

 from Socorro." Mostly these birds were seen in comjiauy with Sula cyanops. 

 From 15° N., 112° W., Sula piscatrix wehsteri appeared to take the place of 

 S. brewsteri nesiotis, and the Sula cyanops seen then were mostly young, with 

 more or less greyish feathers on the back and a pale yellowish bill. 



Mr. Beck sent us a very fine adult male caught 12°50' N., lUT" W., a less 

 mature male "200 miles south of Clarion," and a series oi females caught lUT" W, 

 12°50' N., and thereabouts. 



There seems to be some reason for separating nesiotis as a subspecies of 

 hretvsteri, though a " specific " separation, as proposed by Heller &, iSnodgrass, 

 would be too inconvenient. The one adult male we have is certainly lighter ou 

 the neck than any of our specimens from the Tres Marias and Mexican coast, and 

 the wings average perhaps 1 or 2 cm. more, but not constantly. The females, 

 although indistinguishable in colour from those of S. brewsteri, have certaiidy the 

 webs of their feet greenish, while all our brewsteri have them cpiite yellow ! Tlie 

 males do not show this obvious diflerenee in the colouration of their webs, bnt their 

 bills are generally somewhat larger. 



Our specimen recorded Nov. Zool. VI p. 179 from 1 10 '^ long. W., 11 20' 

 lat. N. must of course belong to nesiotis, as suiJKested bv Heller it Snodgrass. 



"p&^ 



Phalacrocorax harrisi Rothsch. 



(Plate X.) 

 Nov. ZooL. VI, 1899, p. 179. 



Mr. Beck writes as follows about this highly interesting flightless 

 Cormorant : — 



" Phalacrocorax harrisi was found sparingly in the surf on the south side of 

 Narborough Island. At Mangrove I'oiut, ou the east side, a number were seen ; 

 several were sitting on the rocks. One or two that were shot ou the rocks had a 

 single large fish in their stomachs, evidently just canght. They seem to climb out 

 of the water to' digest their food as well as to sun themselves. When getting on 

 land they shake off the water, stretch out their wings, and leave them extended for 

 some minutes, as Vultures * do. Then they will shut their wings, pick themselves, 

 gradually close their eyes and go to sleep. When on land they were quite tame, 

 much more so than when they were in the water. Some had pieces of lava in 

 their stomachs. Nearly all that were taken were males. The call is a hoarse criik, 

 croh, uttered when snr])rised or disturbed -by iguaiuis, for instance — who, however, 



* .\ik1 uthcr Cormorants in Kurope and ulsewbere. — Kollisch. & Hart. 



