230 A NATURALIST ON THE "CHALLENGER." 



much whiter than the Kerguelen birds, a broad band of white 

 passing round the body, under the wings and across the back. 

 The}' were probably of the same species {Phalacrocorax verru- 

 cosus) which is described as developing in New Zealand a broad 

 white band at the close of the breeding season* The sealers 

 had remarked that the Heard Island Shag was whiter than the 

 Kerguelen one. The season at Heard Island may have been 

 more advanced, or a change of plumage may take place earlier ; 

 or from the sealers' remark it would appear that the Heard 

 Island birds differ in their amount of development of white from 

 the Kerguelen ones.f 



On a steep talus slope leading down from the broken-down 

 crater already described, to the sea, was a large penguin rookery, 

 from which the sealers drew their supplies. A tern, the same as 

 one of the Kerguelen ones, was nesting on the terminal moraine 

 of the glacier at the head of the harbour. The sealers call it 

 " King-bird " or " Kinger." I saw brooded eggs. The gull of 

 Kerguelen's Land (Larus Dominicanus) was very abundant. It 

 was curious for the first time to see gulls perched upon a glacier. 

 The only other birds which I saw were the Skua (Stercorarius 

 Antarcticus) and the Giant Petrel (Ossifraga gigantea), and a 

 Stormy Petrel (Occanitis sp.), which was very abundant. The 

 " Sheath-bill " (Chionis) was said by the sealers to be common 

 in the island ; I saw one only. 



The only insects which I saw w^ere the large apterous fly of 

 Kerguelen's Land, which shelters itself, as there, in the heart of 

 the wild cabbage, and a single dead specimen of a small beetle, 

 found amongst the Azorella, which unfortunately I lost. 



I had only three hours' time on shore. I was busy hunting 

 for insects when I saw the Captain signalling for a return, and 

 picking up the biggest Sea-Elephant skull which I could find, 

 and knocking a few tusks out of some others, to keep as me- 

 mentos of this dismal spot, I made the best of my way across 



* "Trans. K Zealand Inst./' Vol. V., p. 224. 



t Messrs. Sclater and Salvin separate Phalacrocorax imperialis from 

 P. verrucosus, because of the development in it, and not in the latter, of 

 white on the back. It is unfortunate that no specimens could be got in 

 Heard Island. "Proc. Zool. Soc," 1878, p. 650. 



