90 EDWARD A. WILSON. 



On January 9th, 1902, we saw many of these birds Hitting about the summit of 

 the most inaccessible cliffs of Cape Adare. Farther down in Robertson Bay its eggs 

 had been taken by members of the 'Southern Cross' Expedition in 1898 and 1899, 

 and previous to this, in 1840, McCormick had obtained the eggs on Cockburn Island. 

 We ourselves saw nothing of its nesting habits, our winter quarters being so far south 

 that we were visited only by a few stragglers from time to time, not one of which 

 remained to breed. The bird is a great wanderer, and was seen by several of our 

 sledge parties on the Great Ice Barrier, some 70 miles to the south of open water. 



After leaving Cape Adare we passed down the coast of South Victoria Land, and 

 when in sight of the Possession Islands were visited, on the 11th of January, by large 

 flocks of Snow Petrels, which flew about the ship, mounting to very great heights 

 above the masthead. These flocks alternated, without mingling, with flocks of 

 Thalassoeca antarctica. The latter would fly in unison, all turning at once like a 

 flock of Starlings,* while the Snow Petrels, on the other hand, flew here and there 

 independently in a mazy fashion, glittering against the blue sky like so many white 

 moths or shining snow-flakes. 



When flying in the wake of the ship in this irregular manner it was possible to 

 catch and haul them inboard by flying lengths of strong thread from the halyards, the 

 birds becoming so completely entangled by their wings that they were easily drawn 

 in. Under these circumstances they gave vent to a guttural croaking sound, which 

 seemed a most unsuitable note for such a dainty bird ; this was followed by the 

 regurgitation of a mucoid reddish-orange fluid, consisting of a mess of little shrimps, 

 which was shot with some energy from the mouth and nostrils ; one's feelings for the 

 dove-like petrel became in consequence somewhat mixed. In one case, and strange 

 to say, in one case only, this beautiful bird literally swarmed with lice. This particular 

 individual was caught in the neighbourhood of the Balleny Islands ; but it was quite an 

 exceptional thing to find any bird or beast infested by these parasites in the Antarctic. 



The food of the Snow Petrel consists almost entirely of Euphausia, a red shrimp- 

 like crustacean, which abounds in the Southern waters. It lives there in countless 

 numbers, and is thrown up by the breaking surf upon the edges of the icefloes, where 

 the Snow Petrels hover with outspread wings to pick them up before the next wave 

 comes to wash them off". Occasionally this diet is varied by a few small silvery fishes 

 of the size of sprats, but the crustaceans form their staple diet. 



The bird has but few enemies. McCormick's Skua may be seen occasionally 

 chasing it ; but not for its life, for the chase is over when the contents of the petrel's 

 stomach have been surrendered. Apart from the Skua I believe it has no enemies. 

 The Snow Petrel is a migrant within the limits of the ice-covered area, going 

 northward with the sun in the autumn to frequent the northern limits of the ice 

 belt, where it can obtain food in the open leads of water. 



At our winter quarters in McMurdo Sound (78° S. lat.) we saw the last bird of the 



* Staxling = Sturnus vulgaris. 



