Birds of Spitsbergeji. 575 



Goose in Spitsbergen, it is not a little curious that the first 

 bird I should meet with on the land was of this species. 

 There is a large lake — the largest bit of inland water I saw 

 in Spitsbergen — lying a mile or so inland from Cape Stara- 

 schin. It was still frozen over, except at one point, and on 

 its banks a pair of Pink-footed Geese were feeding, while a 

 pair of Red-throated Divers flew in from the sea and settled 

 in the open water. There were Snow-Buntings, already in 

 pairs, and several pairs of Eider Ducks [Somateria mollissima) 

 on the sea. Nearer Green Harbour we came to an anchor 

 off Festning Rock, in which several Mandt's Guillemots 

 had eggs. 



By the 20th the movements of the ice enabled us to steam 

 into Advent Bay, where we lay in a good anchorage behind 

 the southern point. That day we shot a pair of Grey 

 Phalaropes and found an Arctic Tern's nest containing one 

 egg. I left a day or two later than Sir Martin Conway, viz. 

 on August 18th. The spots visited and referred to include 

 Ice Fjord, North Fjord, Dickson's Bay, Horn Sound, Danes 

 Island, Walden Island, and Wijde Bay. 



A glance at the map will remind readers of this article 

 that the western island of Spitsbergen is almost divided by 

 two inlets of the sea: — one (Ice Fjord) running from the 

 south northwards, and breaking itself up into various arms 

 and entries ; the other running from north southwards, and 

 known as Wijde or Wide Bay. A large proportion of the west 

 coast of Ice Fjord consists of glacier and bare rock, but on the 

 opposite side are many valleys, which are green in summer 

 and cut into by streams fed by the melting snow. In those 

 valleys the Pink- footed Geese nest sparingly, the Purple 

 Sandpiper abounds, and the Snow-Bunting nests in the 

 '^ talus" slopes along their sides. In places the rocks are 

 precipitous and afford nesting-sites for colonies of Briinnich's 

 and Mandt's Guillemots, for Fulmars and Little Auks. But 

 Ice Fjord, on the whole, is disappointing to an ornithologist. 

 As the primary object of Sir Martin Conway's expedition was 

 work inland, a whale-boat was sufficient for the party's needs. 

 But a whale-boat, though adequate for conveying camp- 



SER. VII. VOL. Til. 2 s 



