the Island of Tristan da Cunhu, <!^-c. 497 



garden, nipping off the young plants as soon as they appeared 

 above ground : but their ordinary food are the larvae of certain 

 species of Phalcetw, and the berries of the Empetrum and Nerteria. 



Of aquatic birds there is great abundance. I have already 

 mentioned four species of Diomedea. There are six species of 

 Procellaria, among which are the P. gigantea, cinerea, and vittata. 

 The last, and the other three, which are smaller, are night birds, 

 never appearing on wing until after sun-set. They may be caught 

 in any number by kindling a large fire of wood. Attracted by 

 the light, they approach and flutter round it, like so many moths 

 round a candle, till at length the greater number of them, dazzled 

 by the glare, plunge into the flame and perish. The Larus Cata- 

 ractes is the common tyrant of all the smaller birds, and destroys 

 them in multitudes. There are two species of Sterna, the S. sto- 

 lida, and one which varies very little from the S. Hirundo. The 

 former builds in the trees, and lays a solitary egg. I never saw 

 the nest of the latter. 



The Crested Penguin {Aptenodytes chri/socoma) conceals itself 

 among the long grass, and in the bottoms of the ravines where 

 they open upon the shore. Here they assemble in countless mul- 

 titudes, and keep up a moaning noise which can be heard at a 

 great distance; and, combined with the roar of the surge re-echoed 

 from the mountain, and the bold inhospitable coast around you, 

 is calculated to excite a train of ideas by no means pleasant. It 

 is owing perhaps to the scantiness of its plumage that the pen- 

 guin swims heavier than any other bird, no part of it except the 

 head appearing above the water. This gives it undoubtedly a 

 peculiar facility of diving and pursuing its prey under the water. 

 With the same view, perhaps, its eyes appear to be uncommonly 

 sensible to the stimulus of light. In every bird that 1 had an op- 

 portunity of examining the pupil was contracted to a mere dot. 



There are no reptiles of any kind on the island : and the only 



insects, 



