94 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



the same day. Brent Geese were seen again on the 13th 

 and 14th. Towards the end of July I saw tour or five, and 

 Mr Wilton saw others. The West Ponds were their chief 

 resort.— W. S. B.] 



7. *SOMATERIi\. MOLLISSIMA (Linn.). 



Payer, op. ciL, ii. p. 91; Neale, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1882, pp. 653, 654; 

 Nansen, op. cit., ii. p. 438. 



There are two chicks, a few days old, in the collection. 

 These Mr Bruce obtained at Cape Mary Harmsworth, on the 

 7th of August 1897. 



The Eider Duck does not seem to be widely distributed in 

 Franz Josef Land, though it appears to be not uncommon 

 in the south, to which area all our information refers. Dr 

 Nansen only once mentions seeing it — namely, near Cape 

 Fisher, where a flock was observed on the 4th of June 1896. 

 Dr Neale merely includes this bird in his list, and tells us 

 that it departed from Cape Flora in the autumn of 1881, 

 on or about the 22nd of September. 



[We saw the Eider Duck on only two occasions near Cape 

 Flora — namely, on the 28th of August 1896, when a single 

 bird was seen; and on the 15th of July 1897, Mr Wilton 

 saw one male and one female. 



At Cape Mary Harmsworth, on 7th August 1897, I found 

 an Eider Duck's nest, with two young birds and an egg just 

 on the point of hatching. Later in the day Mr Wilton and 

 I saw many ducks and ducklings round the north end of the 

 tongue of land. We saw five broods with their mothers, 

 and there were many others swimming among the loose ice. 

 Altogether there must have been several hundreds. This 

 was really the only locality for the species found by the 

 expedition in Franz Josef Land, for only two had been seen 

 and secured at Cape Gertrude before my arrival. — W. S. B.] 



8. *Strepsilas interpres (Linn.). 



Dr Koettlitz, of the Jackson - Harmsworth Expedition, 

 informs us that on the 27th of May 1896 he saw a Turn- 

 stone at Cape Flora — the only one that he observed in 

 Franz Josef Land. This bird is an addition to the avifauna 



