134 Short Notices. 



Gough Island is some 1500 miles from the Cape and a mere 

 precipitous rock, some species of sea-going birds were 

 noticed there which are occasionally observed in the Cape 

 Seas, e.g. : — Sterna vittata (Kerguelen Tern), which breeds 

 on the island ; Stercorarius antarcticus (Southern Skua) , 

 also breeding ; Oceanites oceaaicus (Wilson's Petrel) ; Fre- 

 getta grallaria (White-bellied Petrel) ; Piiffinus assimilis 

 (Gould's Little Shearwater), breeding ; Priofinus cinereus 

 (Great Grey Petrel) ; Majagueus cequinoctialis (Cape Hen); 

 (Estrelata mollis (Soft-plumaged Petrel), breeding ; Ossi- 

 fraga gigantea (Giant Petrel), breeding ; Prion vittatus 

 (Broad-billed Blue Petrel) ; Diomedea exulans (Wandering 

 Albatross), breeding ; Phoehetria fuliginosa (Sooty Alba- 

 tross); Catarrhactes chrysocome (Rock-hopper Penguin), also 

 breeding. 



The South Orkney Islands are also a very long way from 

 the Cape, but the results of the Expedition are particularly 

 interesting owing to tlie fact that many well-known species 

 of birds which are familiar visitors to the Cape Seas, and of 

 which, hitherto, little has been known about the breeding- 

 habits, were discovered nesting in larcje numbers. These 

 Islands — over a dozen in number — are situated between 60° 

 and 61° S. lat., and 43° 3' and 47^ \N . long. The climate is 

 polar : excessive snowfall, deficient sunshine, strong gales, 

 and a mean annual temperature of 22° 7 F., the thermometer 

 dropping at times to 40° below zero F. 



Daption capensis (Cape Pigeon), Stercorarius cmtarctica 

 (Southern Skua), Ossifraga gigantea (Giint Petrel), Fre- 

 getta melanogaster (Black-billed Petrel), Oceanites oceanicus 

 (Wilson's Petrel) were all found nesting, and many important 

 collections of both skins and eggs were made. The account 

 is illustrated by a number of interesting photographs of the 

 birds and their nests and effijs. 



(5) The April (1906) number of 'The Ibis' contains an 

 interesting paper, to which attention may be drawn : — 

 " Bird-Notes from South Africa." By A. H. Evans. 

 This is a pleasant account of the birds observed by the 



