26 COLLETT AND NANSEN. ACCOUNT OF THE BIRDS, [norw. POL. EXP. 



about 82° 20' N. Lat. By degrees they came to be observed almost daily, 

 and several specimens were shot (together with Pagophila eburnea and 

 Fulmarus glacialis) as food for the dogs. Here in the ice, however, they 

 seldom appeared otherwise than singly or only a few together. 



Close to Hvidtenland, they became more numerous, and were seen in 

 great numbers all through the autumn along the coasts of Franz Josef 

 Land, wherever there was open water (e. g. on the ISW side of Karl Alex- 

 ander Land). 



Along the shore near the winter hut, great numbers of them were seen 

 daily, until the middle of September, when the sea outside was entirely frozen 

 over, and they disappeared. They were chiefly old birds. They almost al- 

 ways kept only over open water, busily engaged in catching crustaceans. 

 Flocks of them moved incessantly up and down along the shore, hovering 

 over the water moving with the tidal current, and darting down with a dull 

 splash against the surface of the water, whenever a crustacean or other 

 animal appeared; but they frequently had to share their booty with Stereo- 

 rarius crepidatus. They seemed to live exclusively on small marine animals, 

 and never touched the blubber and flesh of the bears and walruses killed 

 by the travellers, in which respect they differed widely from Pagophila 

 eburnea, and Larus glaucus. 



After the winter, they first appeared at the winter hut on May 13th (1896), 

 although there was no open water within a distance of 35 kilometres. The 

 very next day several were seen. After this they were seen fairly frequently, 

 but not in great numbers until May 22nd, 1896, when flocks of them were 

 seen near Cape M'Clintock, whence there was only a short distance to 

 open water. 



Cape Flora, on the south coast of Franz Josef Land, was the first place 

 where their nesting-places were actually seen. At the time of Nansen's 

 arrival there on the 17th June, laying had not begun ; the first eggs were 

 found some days later. 



The last specimens that could have belonged to Franz Josef Land were 

 seen during the homeward voyage in the 'Windward', on the border of the 

 open water in the Barents Sea, on the 9th August. These seemed to be 

 chiefly young birds of the previous year. 



