30 Mr. R. Hall on the 



the nest has usually a few or many stalks of coarse seaweed 

 in it, and in the centre several fresh stems of limp grass 

 (Cotula), picked off for the purpose. Throughout January 

 the eggs were fresh, and only two or three in thirty were 

 much developed. In one nest I found two eggs: one was 

 decomposed inside, caked with clamp earth on the shell, and 

 partly hidden in roots ; the other Avas 3 inches away, with 

 the sitting bird upon it (February 14th). 



Once only did I notice an egg placed at the entrance of 

 the tunnel. This was on January 26tli, and it was fresh 

 inside, but showed a little age outside. A Skua would 

 probably have taken it, but for the environment of weathered 

 shells, and I feel surprised that the Skua was outwitted. 

 These eggs vary from clear white when fresh to a uniform 

 dirty loam when hard-set. In one case a zone of deep 

 brown encircled the egg, leaving the poles clear. In another 

 several green blotches were at one end, as if caused 

 by the succulent grass. A third egg was uniformly smudged 

 with brown over a white base. I consider that all these 

 eggs had originally a clear white ground-colour. The 

 measurements ranged from 085 x O'-i inch to 1 x 0"4, 



In most characters my seven examples agree with the 

 descriptions of authorities, but I find that the posterior 

 lamellae are visible when the bill is closed upon a profile- 

 view ; while, in the living bird, a small portion of tiie nail 

 is sometimes pale yellow ; tiiis area is a little longer than 

 broad (December 27th). 



Pelecanoides exsul Salvin, Cat. B. xxv. p. 438. 



Pelecanoides urinatrix Coues & Kidder, and others. 



We occasionally saw small flocks of this Petrel in Royal 

 Sound and Greenland Harbour, and at first we thought 

 they were ducklings off shore. By exposing the ship's light 

 on a dark night the specimens obtained were attracted on 

 board. One I released, when it fliuttered some 50 yards, 

 then dived, and we saw it no more. A female came on the 

 deck in the dark hours with its white feathers dirty to their 

 bases. 



