during n Voyage in the Antarctic Ocean. 99 



D. melanoiihrys, and D. fuliginosa. Daption capensis dives 

 readily; P)-oc. mollis does not. I have seen D. capensis drop 

 suddenly on the water, and dive under instantly. It will also 

 throw its tail up like a duck, and fish up bits of food from a 

 slight depth. 



16th September. Running along the south coast of Van Die- 

 men^s land. — Daption capensis is here in vast numbers ; there 

 must have been 200 round us at a time. Proc. mollis nearly 

 gone from us. Proc. glacialis (one specimen) came close under the 

 stern, and we nearly caught it several times. The Puffinus 

 before named, as also Proc. gigantea and Diom. fuliginosa, occur 

 sparingly. D. exulans (two adults) paid us a visit, and spent the 

 day with us ; and two little Thalassidromce patted over the water 

 some way astern. 



September 22. Halfway between Van Diemen^s Land and 



New Zealand. — Puffinus ? very plentiful. H. E. Sir G. Grey 



says they are the " Mutton Bird*." Diom. exulans and D. mela- 

 nophrys very common. D. cJdororhyncha has, I think, quite left 

 us : it may be known at once from D. melanophrys by its head 

 being of a slate colour, this part in D. melanophrys being white. 

 Daption capensis and the little Thulassidroma are abundant. One 

 specimen oi D. fuliginosa has been with us all day; and now and 

 then Prion vittatus and Proc. m.ollis appear. 



September 24. — Off New Zealand (25 miles from land) two 

 Gannets passed the ship — the first we have seen ; and a Skua 

 [Lestins antarcticus) flew round us yesterday. All the birds have 

 left us but the Daption capensis, and that is scarce. 



September 25. Steaming along the coast of New Zealand. — 

 Thalassidroma ? very plentiful. Flocks of a Procellaria, slate- 

 coloured with dark markings. Gannets common, as also Prion 

 vittatus. D. melanophrys ? or an allied species (I think it looks 

 smaller) sitting on the smooth water. Between the " Poor 

 Knight^s Islands " we steamed through large flocks of a curious 

 little diver about the size of a quail, black and white, with ap- 

 parently sharp-pointed, short bills. They dived under the ship, 



* The " Mutton Bird" of Bass's Straits is Puffinus brevicaudus, Gould, 

 R. Austr. vii. pi. 56. See ' Ibis,' 1859, p. 398. In the heading of Mr. 

 Elvves' article it is erroneously named P. obscurus. — Ed. 



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