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XXXIV. A Memoir on the Birds of Greenland ; with Descriptions 

 and Notes on the Species observed in the late Voyage of Discovery ^ 

 in Davis's Straits and Baffin's Bay. By Captain Edward Sabine 

 of the Royal Artillery, F.R.S. and L.S. 



Read April 6, 181 9- 



I HAVE much pleasure in presenting to the Linnean Society a 

 Memoir on the Birds of Greenland. In accompanying the expedi- 

 tion which sailed last year in search of a North-West passage, I 

 had opportunities, when not engaged in the official duties which 

 I was sent to perform, of making some observations on the Orni- 

 thology of that part of the world. 



Of fifty species enumerated by various authors as having been 

 found in Greenland, twenty-four fell under my notice : some in- 

 teresting facts relating to these have been ascertained, and four 

 other species have been added to the list, one of which has not 

 been before described by any naturalist. That so few birds v/ere 

 seen is to be explained by the circumstance, that the ships very ,^ 

 rarely approached the shores so as to permit a landing ; but it '-m 

 confidently hoped, that the voyage which is about to be under- 

 taken will afford facilities for more extensive research. 



I have confined my account to the birds seen either in Davis's 

 Straits or in Baffin's Bay, omitting all notice of those observed on 

 the voyage Avhen we were nearer the shores of the British islands 

 than those of any part of Greenland. 



The works which have been generally quoted are the following : 



Gmelin, 



JUL 1 6 lybU 



