76 



Letters, Announcements, ^c. 



tion this occurrence ; but so doubtful am I still about it, that, 

 were it not for his request, I should not have done so. If it 

 exists at all it must be extremely rare in these seas. 



From several passages between the tropics and the south, I 

 made the following notes of the northern range of the species 

 named in the accompanying Table : 



With the exception of D. exulans, these birds are as plentiful 

 on the American as on the African side ; I attribute the com- 

 parative absence of that species to the prevailing westerly winds, 

 against which they would have to travel from Tristan d'Acunha. 

 All the Albatroses, and most of the Petrels, follow ships ; conse- 

 quently vessels going to the north would observe them in higher 

 latitudes than vessels coming from the equator. For instance, 

 on leaving Rio de Janeiro in October last there were at least 

 thirty Black-bellied Petrels round the ship in latitude 5° S., 

 longitude 30° W. ; but I feel sure that they had been enticed 

 beyond their true boundary by the ship ; and again for several 

 days after our arrival either in Simon's Bay or Monte Video, 

 Albatroses and Petrels, scarcely ever seen on other occasions, 

 would sit or fly round us, wondering where they had arrived, 

 and, after due cogitation, would wing away to sea. 



I am ashamed to say that during my stay in South America 

 my love of shooting utterly sapped my ardour as a collector, and 

 I gathered very little information. Still a few notes on the 

 general ornithological features of the country bordering on the 

 River Plate may not be uninteresting. I made a prolonged 

 stay at a large estate on the St. Lucia river (a tributary of the 

 Rio de la Plata), sometimes dwelling in the owner's house, and 

 at others pitching my tent far away in the wild bush on the 



