90 Royal Society. 



from the excitement of the old birds, that the young were hatclied ; 

 and on searching for the nestlings, the old birds commenced their 

 nsual onslaught when within two hundred yards of the nest. Dis- 

 regarding their outcries and fierce swooping down, I soon found 

 the young ones crouching amongst the herbage some distance 

 apart from one another and the nest (which they leave at an early 

 age), and sat beside the nearest. The hen Skua immediately 

 alighted within a yard of me and continued her vociferations, whilst 

 the cock withdrew to the other nestling. On stroking her chick 

 the hen became more excited than ever and advanced a little 

 nearer. Taking a Prion's egg from my pocket and holding it 

 out, her cries ceased whilst she eyed the egg, but recommenced 

 when she again looked at me. 8he once more looked at the egg, 

 became silent, waddled cautiously up and pecked gently at my 

 finger, then, reassured, pecked the egg, which she very soon made 

 an end of. In the same way she ate a young Prion killed for the 

 purpose, and afterwards flew to the hole from whence the bird 

 had been taken to see if it contained another ; and upon my 

 digging at some other holes, she came near and stood by in eager 

 expectancy of further gratuities. AV^ith regard to her pecking 

 first at the finger before the egg, I woidd observe that wild birds 

 usually do this previous to feeding out of the hand. The Sheath - 

 bills did the same, and so do EngKsh birds which have never been 

 in confinement. It seems to be their way of testing the nature of 

 any strange-looking object. 



The Sheatbbill was plentiful in SAvain's Bay, and a fair number 

 of their eggs were procured. As Dr. Kidder, the American Natu- 

 ralist, had not succeeded in finding any, I was anxious that he 

 should have some ; but did not consider myself at liberty to give 

 him more than one, and that a damaged specimen almost in 

 halves. The Eoyal Society will now be able to be more liberal. 



A fine male example of a Rain, differing from the species pre- 

 viously found in Eoyal Sound, was shot by Mr. Budds, the chap- 

 lain of H.M.S. ' Volage,' two days before we sailed. 



The Agrostis mentioned when I last wrote came into flower 

 about the third week in January. It can scarcely be said to form 

 a sward, or pasturage even, in the neighbourhoods visited by me. 

 The Limosella was found in February in fruit and flower, very 

 sparingly, in only one shallow lake between the Observatory and 

 Mount Crozier. 



I omitted to inform you that the Kergueleu-Island CaUitnche, 

 given in the ' Flora Ajitarctica ' as 0. verna var. terrcstris, should 

 (I think) be regarded as a form of C. peduneulata rather than of 

 C. verna. It has no bracts, and seems to exhibit other peculiari- 

 ties of C. pedanculata. Prof. Wyville Thomson alludes to it as 

 C. verna ; but probably he adopted the name from the ' Flora ' 

 without suspicion, unless, indeed (which is unlikely), both species 

 occur on the island. For the satisfaction of other botanists I have 

 brought back specimens of the plants in spirits, sho« ing flower and 

 fi'uit, as well as dried examples. 



