of the Voyage of ' The Fox.' 167 



were met with. Owing to the prevalence of S.E. winds, unfor- 

 tunately, we were beset in the ice in Melville Bay, and drifted 

 south over 1200 miles, until our deliverance in April 1858. 

 During this dreary winter, we obtained a few specimens of the 

 Dovekie {Uria grylle) in its winter plumage; once a solitary 

 Ptarmigan [Tetrao lagopus?) pitched on the ice near the ship, 

 and was almost immediately devoured by the dogs. On returning 

 up the coast of Greenland in the summer of 1858, some thou- 

 sands of Looms ( Uria troile and U. brunnichii) were shot, and in 

 Melville Bay great numbers of Alca alle. We were so fortunate 

 as to obtain some of the eggs of this latter bird at the breeding- 

 place near Cape York. Here we found myriads of them flying 

 in and out of the stones which form a detritus to the primary 

 rock. These birds lay a single egg in the hollows between the 

 stones, where the foxes and gulls cannot reach them. Numbers 

 of Larus glaucus were flying about ; and one Phalarope {Phala- 

 ropus fulicarius) was seen. 



The only bird worth noticing seen at Pond's Bay, in lat. 72° 

 on the west coast of Baffin^s Bay, was a Crane [Grus canadensis). 

 It is rarely met with so far north. 



The winter of 1858-9 was spent at Port Kennedy, in the 

 mouth of Bellot Straits, 72° 11' N., 94° W. During this season 

 a few Ptarmigan {Tetrao lagopus and T.saliceti) were shot; a 

 Winter Dovekie {Uria grylle), a Snowy Owl {Strix nyctea), and 

 some Ravens ( Co?-i'w.9 corax) were seen. The first birds which made 

 their appearance in May were Snow Buntings {Emberiza tiivalis) 

 and Lapland Finches {Plectrophanes lapponica). As the month 

 progressed, a few Burgomasters {Larus glaucus) and Silvery 

 Gulls {Larus argentatus) were seen, and flocks of Geese {Anser 

 bernicla) were noticed flying northward. Early in June, Ducks 

 {Anas mollissima, A. glacialis, and A. spectabilis) began to as- 

 semble in the pools of water near the shore, and some Divers 

 {Colymbus arcticus, C. septentrionalis, and C. glacialis) were shot. 

 Numbers of Tringa minuta and T. inferpres were found breeding 

 in the marshy valleys; also Plovers {Charadrius pluvialis and C 

 hiaticula). Several Falcons {Falco peregrinus) were shot. Some 

 Geese {Anas bernicla) and Gulls {Larus glaucus and L. leuco- 

 pterus) built their nests on the cliffs which form the sides of the 



