1896. A ZOOLOGIST IN TIERRA DEL FUEGO. 175 



hills above Punta Arenas, which I vainly tried to catch in order to 

 ascertain the species. This is, so far as I know from the literature, 

 the first time that any representative of this order has been met with 

 so far south. I did not see bats in Tierra del Fuego, nor did I hear 

 them spoken of as occurring south of the Strait of Magellan. I 

 believe the species will eventually be found to belong to the Chilian 

 fauna, thus extending along the Pacific coast, within the forests, very 

 far south. This would not be at all surprising, since we know that 

 some true tropical and sub-tropical birds have a very extensive 

 range along that coast. Another interesting fact is the very 

 strange distribution of a parrot (Coniirus sjuaragdmus, Gmel.) which I 

 observed in great flocks in the forests near Ushuwaia, at the Beagle 

 Channel, in lat. 54° 49' S., long. 68^ 18' W. ; a humming-bird (Euste- 

 phanus gakntus, Molina) has also been observed by former naturalists, 

 among others by Cunningham, Coppinger, and those of the " Chal- 

 lenger," and mentioned as occurring very commonly on the islands of 

 Smith Channel and of the western entrance to the Strait. 



To birds I did not pay special attention, as almost every naturalist, 

 who visited these countries before me, was interested in ornithology. 

 In fact, in looking into the excellent memoir on birds from Patagonia 

 and Tierra del Fuego, published in the " Mission scientifique du Cap 

 Horn, 1882-83," t. vi., p. 3, by Oustalet, one finds, at the very first 

 glance, that the ornithology of Tierra del Fuego must be regarded as 

 thoroughly well worked out. A more practical reason why I did not 

 collect many birds was that my time was too short to allow me to 

 spend possibly one or two days in skinning them. Besides, I 

 consider even a fairly complete collection of birds, mammals, or other 

 higher animals, to be, from a scientific point of view, of very little 

 value, unless the naturalist has an opportunity at the same time of 

 making careful observations on the biology of the species collected. 

 Such an undertaking, to be exhaustive, requires at least one or two 

 years' residence in one Hmited district. Moreover, as the breeding 

 season of most birds was already past on my arrival in this country, 

 I thought it more advantageous to spend the few months which 

 were at my disposal in collecting other classes neglected by 

 former naturalists. Still, a good many birds were shot during my 

 later voyages in the Fuegian Archipelago, but as a rule I did not skin 

 them, merely putting them directly into alcohol for future osteological 

 or anatomical study. 



In Punta Arenas, I secured a small collection of Rodentia, just 

 as Nordenskiold did in the eastern parts of Tierra del Fuego. I also 

 picked up all remains of seals and whales as far as circumstances 

 permitted, because these mammals are worth careful investigation, 

 the last mentioned especially, for the sake of comparison with 

 northern and Arctic species. From the same neighbourhood I got 

 together what I hope I may call a rather complete collection both 

 of marine and terrestrial invertebrates. Nor did I forget to look out 



