43Q POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the gray plover, the gray phalarope, the sabine gull and the cuneate or 

 Eoss's gull. 



One of the greatest authorities on Arctic birds, Prof. Alfred Newton, 

 of the University of Cambridge, has well said that in consideration of 

 the avifauna of any country its peculiarities can be determined only by 

 dismissing accidental stragglers from the discussion. In elucidating the 

 great question of geographical distribution, one must confine himself to 

 either the birds that breed therein, or to those species which regularly 

 frequent it for a considerable portion of the year. 



Considering the enormous area covered by the Fram expedition and 

 its great diversity of physical conditions of sea and land, it was impos- 

 sible to treat under a single heading the birds observed. 



PsEL'DAi.iKiiun s Xanseni. G. O. Saks. 



Mr. Collet has, therefore, been wise in dividing his notes into four 

 sections, covering the Asiatic coast, the Siberian ocean, the sledge jour- 

 ney to Franz Josef Land, and the Arctic Ocean to the north of Franz 

 Josef Land and Spitzbergen. But for this division, confusion would 

 have resulted from combining birds of regions so widely extended in 

 longitude and latitude. 



The notes show conclusively what might have been anticipated, that 

 the avifauna of the Siberian Sea, and especially that portion of the 

 Arctic Ocean to the north of Franz Josef Land and Spitzbergen, is 

 strictly limited. 



Including the species observed during the entire voyage, there are 

 only thirty-three recorded. Only twenty-one species pertain to the Arc- 



