152 



NATURE 



[September 29, 192 1 



these no fewer than thirty are now known with 

 certainty to breed locally. Probably one of the 

 most valuable results of the expedition will prove 

 to be the additional light thrown on the breeding" 

 ranges of many northern forms. For example, 

 in Koenig's great work only about seven definite 

 occurrences of the Turnstone {Arenaria interpres) 

 are recorded, of which two are also mentioned by 

 Trevor Battye. Yet in 192 1 not only were speci- 

 mens actually obtained from two localities in Ice 

 Fjord, but also about nineteen pairs were met with 

 breeding in one restricted district on the north 

 coast, and adults, young in down, and eggs were 

 collected. This clears up the mystery of the dis- 

 tribution of this species, which is known to nest 

 quite commonly in Greenland up to 82° 30' on the 

 west side, as also in Novaya Zemlya ; while up to 

 the present no details of breeding in the Spits- 

 bergen group have been available. Similarly the 



Fig. 2. — Purple sandpiper on nest. 



Dunlin {Erolia alpina), hitherto known solely 

 as an occasional visitor, has now been shown 

 to breed in at least one district. Definite 

 information as to the northern limit of the breed- 

 ing grounds of the Ringed Plover {Charadrius 

 hiaticula) and the nesting-range of the Barnacle 

 Goose (Branta leucopsis) are also now available 

 for the first time. 



The skins obtained from Spitsbergen, nearly 

 two hundred in number, are particularly interest- 

 ing from the fact that they include a number 

 of young birds in down plumage, such as 

 Turnstone {Arenaria interpres), Grey Phalarope 

 (Phalaropiis fulicariiis). Pink-footed Goose 

 {Anser hrachyrhynchus), Little Auk {Plotns 

 alle), Glaucous ' Gull (Larus hyperhoreus), 

 and Brunnich's Guillemot {Uria lomvia), which 

 are little known and not represented in most 

 collections. Another valuable point is the 

 NO. 2709, VOL. 108] 



presence of a large series of all the three species 

 of geese which nest in the group in the flightless 

 stage, thus furnishing excellent material for the 

 study of the moults of these birds. 



The eggs are of equal interest. In every case 

 when a nest of any species of goose or duck has 

 been taken the down and feathers have also been 

 carefully collected. The eggs of Branta leucopsis 

 have already been mentioned, but useful series of 

 those of B. hernicla and Anser hrachyrhynchus 

 have also been taken. No eggs of the Puffin from 

 Spitsbergen exist m collections so far as we are 

 aware, and even Koenig's expedition failed to 

 obtain any ; but there are four in the Oxford 

 Expedition's collection. Mandt's Guillemot 

 (Uria grylle mandtii), Grey Phalarope [Ph. juU- 

 carius), Purple Sandpiper (E. maritima) (Fig. 2), 

 and Turnstone {A. interpres), are all represented 

 in the collection, whil? two authentic clutches of 

 eggs of the King Eider [Soma- 

 teria spectahilis) are of especial 

 value as furnishing trustworthy 

 data for the description of eggs 

 and down. 



In one respect the expedition 

 was unlucky. The Spitsbergen 

 Ptarmigan {Lagopus hemileu- 

 curus) was absent in 192 1 from 

 several districts where it was 

 plentiful in 1920. Feathers and 

 droppings of the previous year 

 were seen in hundreds ; even 

 fragments of last year's eggs 

 were found, but the birds were 

 absent from their old haunts. 

 Possibly a migratory movement, 

 due to the open weather of the 

 winter of 1920-21, may have 

 been the cause of the absence of 

 these birds, but our knowledge 

 of this species is too frag- 

 mentary at present for us to 

 hazard an opinion. 



It must not be imagined 

 that even now the ornithology 

 of Spitsbergen has been worked out. The 

 eastern side can be reached only in favourable 

 seasons and late in the summer, and even then 

 ice conditions vary from day to day, and the 

 explorer may have to beat a hurried retreat or 

 run the risk of being frozen in. Naturally its 

 secrets can be disclosed only very gradually, and 

 probably always very imperfectly. Even among 

 the birds of the western coast we meet with prob- 

 lems which still await solution. We are still in 

 doubt as to the status of the Snowy Owl {Nyctea 

 nyctea), though the weight of evidence points to 

 the probability of a few pairs being resident and 

 more or less "parasitic on the Ptarmigan. The 

 long-tailed Skua (Stercorarius longicaudiis) is also 

 something of a problem, and the evidence with 

 regard to its breeding not quite conclusive; and 

 there is evidently a good deal still to be learned 

 as to the Sanderl'ing [Crocethia alha). It is hoped 



[Photo, Scion Gordon. 



