140 ZOOLOGY OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. 



I have often observed in the southern seas, a bird similar in every respect to the 

 Nelly, excepting in its plumage, being of a much more intense black, and its bill 

 rather whiter. I procured a specimen thus coloured, at Port Famine, and had 

 concluded that it veas a distinct species, until Mr. Low, (an excellent practical 

 observer, long acquainted during his sealing voyages with the productions of 

 these seas,) assured me that he positively knew, that these black varieties were 

 the one-year-old birds of the common greyish black Nelly. 



2. Procellaria GLACiALoiDES. A. Smith. 



Procellaria glacialo'ides, A. Smith, Illust. of Zool. of S. Africa, Aves, pi. .51. 



I saw this petrel on both sides of the Continent south of lat. 30° ; but seldom 

 more than two or three together. I am informed that it arrives in Georgia in 

 September for the purpose of breeding, and that it lays its eggs in holes in the 

 precipices overhanging the sea. On the approach of winter it is said to retire 

 from that island. My specimen was caught in the Bay of St. Mathias (lat. 43° S.) 

 by a line and bent pin, baited with a small piece of pork ; the same means by 

 which the Pintado {Dapl. Capeusis)is so easily caught. It is a tame, sociable, and 

 silent bird ; and often settles on the water: when thus resting it might from a dis- 

 tance be mistaken, owing to the general colour of its plumage, for a gull. One or 

 two often approached close to the stern of the Beagle, and mingled with the 

 Pintados, the constant attendants on vessels traversing these southern seas. 



Daption Capensis. Steph. 



Procellaria Capensis, Linn. Syst. i. 213. 



This petrel is extremely numerous over the whole southern ocean, south of the 

 Tropic of Capricorn. On the coast, however, of Peru, I saw them in lat. from 16° to 1 7° 

 S., which is considerably farther north than they are found on the shores of Brazil. 

 Cook, in sailing south in the meridian of New Zealand, first met this bird 

 in lat. 43° 30'. The Pintados slightly differ in some of their habits from 

 the rest of their congeners, but, perhaps, approach in this respect nearest to 

 P. glacialoldes. They are very tame and sociable, and follow vessels navigating 

 these seas for many days together : when the ship is becalmed, or is moving slowly, 

 they often alight on the surface of the water, and in doing this they expand their 

 tails like a fan. I think they always take their food, when thus swimming. 

 When offal is thrown overboard, they frequently dive to the depth of a foot or two. 

 They are very apt to quarrel over their food, and they then utter many harsh but 

 not loud cries. Their flight is not rapid, but extremely elegant ; and as these 

 prettily mottled birds skim the surface of the water in graceful curves, constantly 

 following the vessel as she drives onward in her course, they afford a spectacle 



