402 Capt. H. W. Feilden on the Birds observed 



cording, as far as numbers are concerned^ with the opinion pub- 

 lished before the Expedition left England by one of the most 

 distinguished members of our Society^ ; and^ except amongst 

 those sanguine persons who may still cling to a belief in the ex- 

 istence of an " open polar sea/' I think it is impossible to doubt 

 that, both specifically and numerically, bird-life must rapidly 

 decrease with every degree of northern latitude after passing 

 the eighty-second parallel. If, however, there be an extension 

 of land to the northernmost part of our globe, I see no reason 

 why a few species of birds should not resort there to breed ; 

 and those most likely to proceed there are Plectrophanes ni- 

 valis, Strepsilas interpres, Calidris arenaria, Tringa canutus, 

 and Sterna macrura. There would still be sufficient summer, 

 if such a term may be used, for the period of incubation ; and 

 from what I have seen of the transporting powers of the wind 

 in drifting seeds over the frozen expanse of the polar sea, I 

 cannot doubt that a scanty flora exists at the pole itself, if 

 there be any land there, and that the abundance of insect-life 

 which exists as high as the eighty-third degree will be present 

 at the ninetieth, sufficient to provide for a few Knots, Sander- 

 lings, and Turnstones. The arctic sea at the most northern 

 point reached abounds with Amphipoda, such as Anonyx nu- 

 gax, which doubtless extend all through the polar sea ; and 

 these crustaceans supply Sterna macrura with food in those 

 parts where the continual presence of ice prevents fish 

 coming to the surface ; for wherever there is land there must 

 be tidal ice-cracks, which allow these minute animals to work 

 tbeir way up between the floes. The range of the Brent- 

 Goose is probably coincident with the range of Sawifraga op- 

 positifolia ; and this plant also sujiplies subsistence to the Knot 

 and Turnstone, and probably the Sanderling, before the long 

 arctic day has awakened the insect-life. 



Ross's Gull {Rhodostethia rosea) not having been met with 

 in Smith Sound, either by our expedition or that of the 

 ' Polaris,' its absence from Spitsbergen, Franz- Joseph Laud, 

 and, as far as we know, the northern shores of Siberia, its 

 not having been noticed by any of our arctic or Franklin- 

 * Newtou, 'Arctic IVFanual,' p. 114: London, 1875. 



