4 BIRDS OF KERGUELEN ISLAND. 



bars of tbeir cage. TThen let loose, they would often stay for several days 

 near the house, feeding as peaceably among the chickens as tame pigeons. 

 One, whose wing had been clipped, remained about the house for some 

 weeks, but finally wandered off, and was probably killed by a Lestris, 

 since I found its carcass, partly devoured, about a mile from the house. 



Opinions differed as to their edibleness; the Germans considering them 

 the best bird on the island, while the whalers said that they would " do 

 very well when very short of fresh meat". We did not experiment upon 

 them at all, the flesh being dark and apparently tough. 



The Chionis is one of the latest, if not the very latest, of the Kergue- 

 len birds in pairing and nesting. They were observed to have begun to 

 pair December 11; but no egg was found until January 10, the day of 

 our departure, when the Eev. Mr. Eaton found several nests. To his 

 courtesy I am indebted for my only specimen, unfortunately not accom- 

 panied by any description of the nest, except a message that it was 

 found near the sea. From Captain Fuller, of the whaling-schooner 

 Roswell King, however, I learn that the Sheath-bill is famous for its skill 

 in concealing its nest, never going near its eggs while any one is in 

 sight. He states that they build in the crevices formed by rocks that 

 have foUen upon or against one another, and that the nests are con- 

 structed of dried grass. There were three eggs in the nest from which 

 my specimen came, marked in different shades of color. I am quite 

 positive that, up to January 5, none of the Chionis living near our sta- 

 tion had began to lay, since I kept them under the closest possible 

 observation, being i)articularly anxious to get their eggs. The eggs are 

 of unusually large size in proportion to that of the bird. 



QUERQUEDULA EATOl^l, Sharpe. 

 EATO^'s Teal. 



Querquedula eatoni, Sharpe, Ibis, July, 1875. p. 328 (quoted from advance sheets). 



I was entirely at a loss for a name for this teal ; but, just as these sheets were going 

 to press, I received, through the courtesy of Mr. Salvin, advance proof-sheets of the 

 " Ibis", in which it is described as new. Mr. Sharpe's description is reproduced in the 

 accompanying foot-note.* 



*"^. supra brunneus, plumis plurimis griseo marginatis, rufescenti-fulvo raaculatis 

 aut fasciatis : scapularibus uigricantioribus : pileo paullo rufescentiore plumis nigro 

 medialiter striatis ; facie laterali et gutture albicantibus, minute nigro striolatis, mento 

 fulvescenti-albo : corpore reliquo subtus albicante, brunneo marmorato, plumis plerisquo 

 pectoralibus versus basin griseo-brunneis aut medialiter brunneo striatis: hypochondriis 

 brunueis, albido termiuatis et rufescenti-fulvo transfasciatis: subcaudalibus rufescenti- 

 fulvis, nigro adumbratis, longioribus nigricantibus fnlvo terminatis ; tectricibus alarum 



