On the Avifaima of Franz Josef Land. 249 



Ml*. Bennett has thus added six species to the Soco- 

 tran list, viz, : Anas boscas, Ch. streperus, Ph. roseus, 

 Str. interpres, C. arenuria, and P. maruetta, all of which, 

 with the exception of the Flamingo, can be no more than 

 winter visitants. The list would lead us to infer that the 

 line of southward migration, of which the Red- Sea coasts 

 are undoubtedly the arterial route, trends from the Straits 

 of Babelmandeb westward along the East-African shores, 

 then eastward by the southern coast of Arabia. 



When we observe that, of the whole number of 26 species 

 of terrestrial birds represented in the three collections, as 

 many as seven are peculiar, so far as is known, to the 

 island, and that two of them belong to a very remarkable 

 genus, Rhynchostruthus, we may fairly infer that rich results 

 will yet follow a more thorough exploration of the whole 

 island. The occurrence of Saxicola montana, the only West- 

 Asiatic form in the lists, is evidently not accidental, as it 

 was obtained both by Prof. Balfour and Mr. Bennett. 



XXIII. — On the Avifauna of Franz Josef Land. By Wm. 

 Eagle Clarke, F.L.S. With Notes by Wm. S. Bruce, 

 of the Jackson- Harmsworth Expedition. 



On his return from a year's residence in Franz Josef Land, 

 my friend Mr. Bruce kindly placed the birds collected by 

 him in my hands for examination and record. Hence this 

 contribution. I am glad to be able to include Mr. Bruce's 

 useful and interesting Notes on the Land and its Birds. 

 These appear in brackets with Mr. Bruce's initials. 



It has been thought desirable to include in this contribu- 

 tion the names of all the species of birds which have been 

 observed, or supposed to have been observed, in Franz Josef 

 Land by the few explorers who have visited this, the most 

 northern of archipelagos, and thus to make it a complete 

 record of our present knowledge of its avifauna. 



Certain species in the records, the occurrence of which in 

 Franz Josef Land I consider to be extremely doubtful, are 



SER. VII. VOL. IV. S 



