318 Mr. A. C. Chapman on the 



grass and bordered in places with reeds. This whole area 

 was alive with birds. We spent the 15th of May on this 

 salt-spit and on such of the islets as we had time to explore. 

 We commenced the day by proceeding direct to the furthest 

 extremity of the promontory. When we had arrived there the 

 first objects to attract our attention were eight very large 

 white birds in the shallow water some 400 yards out in the 

 fiord. They were sitting in close proximity to numbers of 

 large Gulls, and several hundreds of Pink-footed Geese [Anser 

 brachyrhynchus) were swimming about close to them. The 

 white birds quite dwarfed the Geese and Gulls in size, and 

 at first we thought they must be Swans. After watching 

 them with our glasses for a while, we were well able to see 

 that they had black quills ; for occasionally one of them 

 would sit up and flap its huge wings, which of course 

 rendered the black quills distinctly visible. These birds were 

 Pelicans, and our men knew them well enough, for they not 

 only called them by that name but assured us plainly enough 

 that they had ^' yellow breasts and crests on their heads,'' 

 tlius at once indicating that the birds were Pelecanus ono- 

 crotalus, as in P. msjMs the head ornamentation is not so 

 ("onspicuous. We were not able to ascertain whether these 

 birds bred in the district (our men said not) ; but we know 

 no reason why they should not do so, when it is borne in 

 mind that there are immense tracts of watery wilderness in 

 and connected with these fiords seldom frequented by human 

 beings, and therefore available as asylums for such fowl, 

 which at all times would be readily able to replenish at Avill 

 their capacious pouches with fish. Such a sight was an 

 unex])ectcd plea'-ure, as these magnificent birds were not 

 known by us to frequent these regions. 



Distributed all over the promontory and about the islets 

 were immense numbers of Redshanks, and the grass being so 

 short they had difficulty in concealing their eggs with their 

 accustomed caution; they were just beginning to lay. In 

 like manner Reeves were breeding in considerable numbers ; 

 but they seemed to prefer the islets, where the grass was 

 longer and rougher, and here we found most of their nests. 



