810 CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. [CHAT. *ni. 



hear the bark close by, but in vain may endeavour by watching, and 

 with still less chance by beating the bushes, to see the bird ; yet at 

 other times the guid-guid fearlessly comes near. Its manner of feeding 

 and its general habits are very similar to those of the cheucau. 



On the coast,* a small idusky-coloured bird (Opetiorhynchus Pata- 

 gonicus) is very common. It is remarkable from its quiet habits; it 

 lives entirely on the sea-beach, like a sandpiper. Besides these birds 

 only few others inhabit this broken land. In my rough notes I describe 

 the strange noises, which, although frequently heard within these 

 gloomy forests, yet scarcely disturb the general silence. The yelping 

 of the guid-guid, and the sudden vvhevv-vvhew of the cheucau, sometimes 

 come from afar off, and sometimes from close at hand ; the little black 

 wren of Tierra del Fuego occasionally adds its cry; the creeper 

 (Oxyurus) follows the intruder screaming and twittering ; the humming- 

 bird may be seen every now and then darting from side to side, and 

 emitting, like an insect, its shrill chirp ; lastly, from the top of some 

 lofty tree the indistinct but plaintive note of the white-tufted tyrant-fly- 

 catcher (Myiobius) may be noticed. From the great preponderance in 

 most countries of certain common genera of birds, such as the finches, 

 one feels at first surprised at meeting with the peculiar forms above 

 enumerated, as the commonest birds in any district. In Central Chile 

 two of them, namely, the Oxyurus and Scytalopus, occur, although 

 most rarely. When finding, as in this case, animals which seem to 

 play so insignificant a part in the great scheme of nature, one is apt to 

 wonder why they were created. But it should always be recollected, 

 that in some other country perhaps they are essential members oi 

 society, or at some former period may have been so. If America south 

 of 37 were sunk beneath the waters of the ocean, these two birds 

 might continue to exist in Central Chile for a long period, but it is very 

 improbable that their numbers would increase. We should then see a 

 case which must inevitably have happened with very many animals. 



These southern seas are frequented by several species of Petrels : the 

 largest kind, Procellaria gigantea, or nelly (quebrantahuesos, or break- 

 bones, of the Spaniards), is a common bird, both in the inland channels 

 and on the open sea. In its habits and manner of flight, there is a very 

 close resemblance with the albatross ; and as with the albatross, a person 

 may watch itj for hours together without seeing on what it feeds. The 

 " break-bones " is, however, a rapacious bird, for it was observed by 

 seme of the officers at Port St. Antonio chasing a diver, which tried to 

 cacape by diving and flying, but was continually struck down, and at 

 last killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian these great petrels 

 were seen killing and devouring young gulls. A second species 

 (Puffinus cinereus), which is common to Europe, Cape Horn, and the 



* I may mention, as a proof of how great a difference there is between 

 the seasons of the wooded and the open parts of this coast, that on 

 September 2Oth, in lat. 34, these birds had young ones in the nest, while 

 among the Chonos Islands, three months later in the summer, they were 

 only laying ; the difference in latitude between these two places being about 

 700 miles. 



