198 Transactions. — Zoology. 



outline, and resting as it -were on a bank of cloud, appeared in 

 the western sky, covering an extent of fully 50°. From this 

 arch rays or flashes of white light ascended fitfully to the 

 heavens; these long beams of light, shooting upwards almost 

 to the zenith, travelled slov/ly along the arch, always moving 

 from east to west ; whilst every now and then a luminous 

 expansion, like the tail of a giant comet, appeai'ed in the sky 

 for a few seconds, and quickly faded away. Then the arch 

 widened, and presented a more regular circumference. This 

 was succeeded by a pale rainbow-like effect of blending red 

 and purple colours immediately above it, wuth coruscations of 

 pure white light, forming a shifting halo, and, for a few 

 seconds only, a less perfect and fainter bow below the arch. 

 This grand effect lasted only a brief time, and with its dis- 

 appearance the arch itself melted out of sight. At this con- 

 juncture the moon, which had hitherto been obscured, made 

 her appeai'ance through a rift in the clouds, and, although in 

 her fourth quarter, shone forth with unusual brilliance. At 

 the same moment a shimmering beam of light appeared below 

 the shining crescent, and continued to lengthen itself out till 

 it seemed to touch the horizon, when it gradually melted 

 away ; but the whole of the w^estern sky was still illumined 

 with flashes of pale light and luminous clouds which quivered 

 and pulsated as if produced (as no doubt they are) by elec- 

 tricity, and then insensibly passed away, the whole phe- 

 nomenon from first to last occupying barely thirty minutes. 



2nd March.— Lat. 48° 35' S., long. 111° 26' E. The white- 

 marked Sooty Albatros is with us still. We first saw it on the 

 29th, and we have ever since been steaming at the rate of 

 fourteen knots an hour. At 5 p.m. the rare CEstrelata antarc- 

 tica paid us a visit, and made three circuits at a moderate 

 distance from the ship. It is a beautiful object on the wing, 

 and has a very graceful flight. Saw what appeared on the 

 wing to be a pair of Puffinus hulleri.-'- They carry their long 

 pointed wings in a bow shape, and make rapid sweeps in the 

 air, crossing always in front of the ship. 



3rd March. — Saw several of what I take to be Q^sfrelata 

 neglecta. They are powerful on the wing and fly high, often 

 in pairs, crossing in front of the ship, and never astern like 

 Adamastor. 



* Puffinus btdleri, Salvin. The proper range of this species has 

 not j'et been ascertained or defined. The typo, now in the Rothschild 

 collection, was picked up by me on the Waikanae coast many years ago. 

 Anotlier specimen (the type of Piiffimis zedlandicus, Sandager) now in my 

 possession was taken at Mokohinau Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, having 

 dashed itself against the lighthouse at night ; and the only other known 

 specimen, now in the British Museum, was obtained from a dealer, 

 labelled "from Now Zealand seas." These may therefore be only 

 stragglers out of the ordinary range. 



