626 Br. R. W. Slmfeldt on the 



gratify the craving, and to enjoy the discovery of material 

 entirely unknown to science. 



Mr. McGall did some beautiful work, and had some 

 narrow escapes in these caves; he visited no fewer than 

 eiglit of them in all. In tlie one in which he found the 

 fossil bird-bones, the floor was formed of decomposed coral, 

 Avhich had thoroughly dried out^ and it was due to this fact 

 that the bones had been so well preserved. In many places 

 the coral lias crumbled, and in this sort of sand we find the 

 bones in an excellent state of preservation. Overhead, the 

 roof is thickly festooned with dead stalactites of various 

 lengths. One of these, which I have examined, is of a dull 

 clay colour, rough and brittle, and has the appearance of 

 being composed of agglutinated, coarse sand. Most of the 

 caves — this one among the number — are very dry; while 

 in the wet and moist ones no bones were discovered, lu 

 the latter, as a rule, both stalactites and stalagmites were 

 growing — that is, they were increasing in size from the 

 mineral or other products in the drippings. Where 

 Mr. McGall found bones, he did what all collectors do not 

 invariably do : he took the trouble to pick up every little 

 bone he could find, however insignificant it appeared, and 

 this very greatly assisted me when I came to study the 

 skeletons. 



Mr. Mowbray, who has an equally interesting story to 

 tell, first found bones in the Crystal Cave, some time in 

 1G07. One year later he presented some of these bones 

 to the Smithsonian Institution, with the view of having 

 them identified. He, too, was under the impression that 

 the major portion of the bird-bones found were those of 

 Pufjiims obscurus : while in Bassett's Cave he collected a 

 perfect skull and beak of Strickland's Shearwater (P. strick- 

 landi], the specimen being covered with calcite, bi'ought 

 down by the drippings in this grotto. He also obtained a 

 living specimen of Peale's Petrel [JElstrelata jjeah), which 

 was, perhaps, the first specimen ever secured by science on 

 this side of the Atlantic. After this bird died it was 



