Letters, Announcements, ^c. 125 



bi'ief remarks on the birds of the Straits, as you will see, are sadly 

 wanting in precision as regards the names of species, owing to 

 my not possessing any book that gives anything but the most 

 meagre information on the subject ; possibly, however, they may 

 be of some interest to you, such as they are. I may begin by 

 remarking that by far the most numerous birds, as regards 

 individuals, are Cormorants, and as regards species are the birds 

 of prey. 



The Condor [Sarcoramphus gryphus) I met with first at 

 Cape Possession, considerable numbers of this magnificent bird 

 nesting on ledges of the high cliffs in this locality. I ol)tained 

 seven or eight species of Falcunidce from various localities ; and 

 of these the Carrancha {Pohjhurus brasiliensis) was one of the 

 most plentiful. The Tucu-tucu [Ctenomys magellanicus), which 

 exists in great abundance on the open plains, affords the staple 

 article of diet to this bird and several other species of the 

 family. Of StrigidcB I procured four species. The largest 

 of these, a very handsome bird with soft mottled-grey plumage, 

 and measuring about twenty inches long, I saw first in the wooded 

 country m the vicinity of the Chilian settlement of Sandy Point ; 

 and subsequently 1 met with other examples in the open country 

 about Gregory and St. Jago bays, having several times observed 

 it flying about in search of prey. A single individual of a second 

 species, with plumage beautifully blotchedwith yellow and brown, 

 was shot on board when we were lying in Philip Bay, Fuegia. 

 A third, which seems to be much the conmionest species in the 

 eastern part of the Strait, where our work lay last season, was 

 frequently seen on the beach, apparently feeding on mollusks and 

 other marine animals. The fourth, a very pretty little creature, 

 between six and seven inches long, occurred at Sandy Point, three 

 specimens having been shot during one of our visits there. A 

 single specimen of what seems to be a species of Shrike was 

 obtained at Possession Bay, and specimens of a grey Flycatcher 

 were shot at Sandy Point and Port Famine. Two specimens of 

 Hirundo were tolerably plentiful in the neighbourhood of the 

 former locality, flying over open ground near the sea ; and in the 

 meads the Creeper {Oxyurus tupinieri) was abundant and most 

 familiar in its habits. Scytaloj.us magellanicus I saw both at 



