NO. 2298. THE GUANO BIRD 8 OF PEBU—COKEB. 507 



Tschudi, however, seems to have visited the Chincha Islands (and 

 others) and he mentions several species as important. 



Guano ia formed of the excrements of different birds, as mews, divers, sheerbeaks, 

 etc.; but the species which I can name with more precision are the following: Larus 

 modestus Tschudi [gull]; Rhincops nigra Linnaeus [skimmer]; Plotus anhinga Linnaeus 

 [snake-bird]; Pelecanus thayus Molina [pelican]; Phalacrocorax gaimardi [patillo] 

 and albigula [guanay] Tschudi; (Pelecanus gaimardi Lesson, Carbo albigula Brandt), 

 chiefly the Sula variegata (Tschudi), [gannet].^ 



I have inserted the common names. As previously indicated, he 

 placed special emphasis upon the gannet. 



When a gentleman of many years experience on the islands, 

 speaking to me of the great diminution in number of birds, especially 

 pelicans, during the period of his acquaintance with the islands, 

 added that the "guanays," however, w^ere by no means so abundant 

 in the earlier years, it seemed that the discrepancy between old ac- 

 counts and actually existing conditions, as regards this species, might 

 be due to local or regional movements of the birds. This inference is 

 borne out by Tschudi's explicit statement in another work ^ that he 

 encoimtered the guanay more often on the south coast in the region 

 of Arica and Islay (17° and 18° S.). Paz Soldan,^ writing in 1862 

 (and apparently following Raimondi) does not single out the cormo- 

 rant for special mention in his account of the Chincha Islands (p. 44); 

 but in treating of the guano of the southern province of Tarapaca he 

 refers particularly to "the birds that produce it, which they call in 

 Quichua Huanay" (p. 521, translated). 



Kaimondi's account, however, seems to offer a better basis for 

 comparison.* He spent 40 days on the Chincha Islands (evidently 

 in 1855) and his notes should be correct for the time. He lists two 

 cormorants (hougainviUei and gaimardi) with this remark, which is 

 not true now as applied to the former species (translated) : 



It appears that the Oarbos do not contribute much to the formation of guano, since 

 they live almost always on the more rugged places and in the clefts of the rocks, so 

 that the guano they produce generally falls into the water. ^ 



We must believe that the guanays were not occupying the Chincha 

 Islands "in mass" in the times of Tschudi's or Raimondi's visits 



« J. T. von Tschudi. Travels in Peru during the years 1838-1842. Translation by Thomasma Ross, 

 New York, 1852, p. 168. [The guano industry had no importance in Tschudi's day and it does not appear 

 that Tschudi was correctly informed as to the general conditions, though his observations are doubtless 

 correct for certain points visited.] 



» Tschudi, J. J. von. Untersuchungen uber die Fauna Peruana. 2 vols. St. Gallen, 1844-46. Section 

 "Ornitholosie" in second volume, p. 314. 



» Paz Soldan, D. D. Mateo. Geo?raphia del Peru, obra postuma del D. D. Mateo Paz Soldan, corrcgida 

 y aumentada por su hermano, Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan. 2 volumes, Paris, 1862, 1863. 



* Raimondi, A. M^moire sur lo huano des isles de Chincha et les oiseaux qui le produisent. Comp. rend, 

 Acad. Sci., vol. 42. Paris, 1856. 



Raimondi, Antonio. "Apuntossobre el huano ysobre las aves que lo producen." Thepaper is undated, 

 as published posthumously in the fourth volume (pp. 487-496) of Raimondi's "El Peru," Lima, 1902 (cited 

 on p. 469 above). It appears to have been originally published in 1874, in El Siglo, ano 1, Nos. 1 and 2,and 

 to be based upon the article in the Compte Rcndus, previously cited. 



» Raimondi, A. 1902 [1874] El Peru, p. 494. 



