350 Recent Literature. [juiy 



Clarke's ' Birds of the South Orkney Islands. ' ' — The South Orkneys, 

 situated about 600 miles southeast of the Falkland Islands, in about lati- 

 tude 60° to 61° south, comprise a group of about a dozen small islands, 

 discovered in 1821 and subsequently visited but three times prior to their 

 exploration in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, in 

 the 'Scotia.' "So far as their Ornis is concerned," writes Mr. Clarke, 

 "only two species of birds, and one of these problematical," had been 

 previously alluded to. The 'Scotia' visited the islands in February, 

 1903, and at the end of March of the same year, after a successful voyage 

 to the southern waters of Weddell Sea. went into winter quarters at Laurie 

 Island, one of the only two large islands of the group. At the end of 

 eight months she was freed from the ice on November 23, and immediately 

 departed for the Falkland Island and Buenos Ayres to refit; but a party 

 was left on the island, in charge of Mr. Mossman, the meteorologist, 

 and Dr. Pirie, medical officer and geologist, to make collections throughout 

 the summer months. To the labors of Dr. Pirie. says Mr. Clarke, "we 

 owe most of our knowledge of bird-life of the island during this most 

 interesting part of the year." Four species remained at the island through- 

 out the winter, but by April all the others had departed, and the first 

 spring movement began in October, when most of the species returned, 

 the late comers arriving during the month of November. "During 

 the summer bird-life was extremely abundant. Rookeries of the three 

 species of Penguin (Pygoscelis) were numerous on the low rocky shores 

 and less steep cliffs on various parts of the coast. Some of these bird- 

 cities contained several millions of inhabitants, and their daily life pre- 

 sented scenes so remarkable as to be almost beyond description 



The Ringed Penguin, hitherto regarded as being nowhere an abundant 

 species, was found to have its metropolis at the South Orkneys, where 

 the summer population on Laurie Is. alone was estimated at not less than 

 one million birds." 



The eggs of the Cape Petrel were here for the first time discovered, as 

 were also the young of the Ringed Penguin and Snowy Petrel; the known 

 range of other species was greatly extended. The collection of nearly 

 150 skins included previously unknown plumages, and representatives of 

 16 out of the 18 species known to occur at the islands; while the eggs ob- 

 tained " numbered several thousands." Mr. Clarke is fortunate in having 

 this rich material assigned to him for elaboration, and his report thereon 

 shows that it has fallen into competent hands. Two colored plates illus- 

 trate young plumages of the Sheathbill. Snowy Petrel, and the Ringed 

 Penguin; the eight halftones show the rookeries and nesting habits of 

 penguins, petrels, and other species, among them Wilson's Petrel (Oce- 



1 Ornithological Results of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. — II. On 

 the Birds of the South Orkney Islands. By Wm. Eagle Clarke, F. R. S. E„ F. L. S., 

 Royal Scottish Museum. Ibis, Jan. 1906, pp. 145-187, pll. iii-xiii. 



