Letters, Announcements, S^c. 105 



just about 90 miles to the westward ; but our first land visitor 

 came off to us in the shape of a Wagtail [Budytes rayi) . Off 

 Cape Verde two Common Swallows {Hirundo rustica) boarded us, 

 and remained about the ship for some hours, perching on the 

 booms and boats. A small Sandpiper, much exhausted, also 

 came and alighted on the deck. I improvised a blowpipe, 

 or sumpetan, out of an old condensing-pipe belonging to the 

 engine, but failed to find any bullets for it. At last I tried 

 some dough, which I saw the baker kneeding into rolls ; but 

 my friend^s bread was too light and delicious to be destructive 

 to any thing ; and though I hit my bird plump on the breast, 

 my pellet only flattened, and frightened it away to a vessel in 

 the offing. 



In the Bay of Biscay the following species came and pitched 

 on, or hovered about the ship : — two Hawks (what species I 

 could not determine), a Stockdove, two Stai'lings, two Thrushes, 

 two Robins (one of which came into the after ports, and was 

 captured by the stewardess ; it was much exhausted, and died 

 in a few hours), one Redstart $ , two Swallows, one Martin, 

 three Skylarks, one Linnet, I think, a Redpole. I beard of 

 several others, but did not see them; and my informants could 

 only say " they are not sea-birds" — that was all they knew. 



1 noted a large Lestris more than once during the voyage ; 

 also a smaller species, with two projecting tail-feathers. I 

 should mention that we kept a long way from land on account 

 of the breeze, and must have been at least 150 miles from land 

 in the Bay of Biscay. Weather was very fine and calm, or with 

 light S.E. wind. 



The most interesting bit of ornithological information that I 

 acquired during this voyage consisted in the addition of three 

 new birds (and the true habitats of two others) to the list of 

 S. African birds. Four gentlemen (Capt. Watson and Messrs. 

 Fellowes, Edwards, and Dorney) having been shooting in the 

 neighbourhood of St. Lucia Bay, the two first named picked up a 

 few stray specimens, though not intending to make any thing of a 

 collection. They kindly unpacked their boxes for my inspection, 

 and, to my great delight, I found fine examples of Numida ver- 

 reauxi, Ardea rufiventris (Sund.), Hoplopterus crassirostris, all 



