42 Mr. W. R. Ogilvic Grant on Birds 



addition to one's other expenses, and it was only owing to 

 the substantial help offered by Mr. Cecil Baring (who accom- 

 panied me on the trip) and his uncle that the wished-for 

 expedition became feasible. It was settled that we should 

 sail on the 4th April last for Madeira, where we had been 

 given to understand a a'CsscI would be waiting to run us 

 down to the Salvages. This arrangement, however, fell 

 through, and after being delayed at Madeira for a week (to our 

 infinite disgust, as time was limited) we took steamer to Gran 

 Canary. Here we at last escaped from the persistently bad 

 weather that had followed us from England, and, after some 

 trouble, managed to hire the ' Pedro,"" a small steam-tug of 

 about 25 tons, a small boat and crew of four Spanish fishermen, 

 and a Spanish cook. We have already given a somewhat 

 full account of our trip to the Salvages and the various 

 accidents which befell us on our way *, so I only propose to 

 give here a more complete account of the 21 species of birds 

 found by us on these islands, together with remarks on such 

 habits as we were able to observe during our limited stay of 

 eight days. Our headquarters were on Great Salvage, 

 where we obtained the majority of the specimens collected. 

 During our three weeks' collecting (for the other three were 

 spent at sea) we obtained in all 16 skins of mammals (rabbits 

 and mice), over 200 bird-skins, about 40 skeletons of birds, 

 as well as a number in spirits ; many examples of 5 species of 

 reptiles, both alive and in spirits ; 1 73 fishes, including 

 examples of 72 different species ; 450 land and freshwater 

 molluscs (several being rare local forms peculiar to these 

 islands), 400 Arthropods, 700 Insects of various kinds, and 

 a few Echinoderms and Worms. A complete collection was 

 made of all the plants met with on Great Salvage and Great 

 Piton, but unfortunately many of these were spoiled by the 

 addition at the last moment of a specially fine ice-plant 

 [Mesembryanihemum crystallinum). We did not then know 

 the impossibility of drying this never-sufficiently-to-be- 

 abused plant, and the many sheets of drying-paper round 



* See ' The Field,' 21st and 28th September, 1895 (repriuted in ' The 

 Zoologist,' 1895, pp. 401-417). 



