;}0 On th<; " Cahow " of the Jiermudas. 



the niiks (Alcida^), some of which have .>^iinih\r white eggs 

 and bunowiiig habits, and arc edible. 



3. It was strictly nocturnal in its habits. It flew only at 

 tiiglit and made a "strange liollow and liarsh howUng " and 

 a loud call, from which its name (caiiow) was given. It 

 came readily to jxnsons imitating its note, and could then bo 

 easily taken by the hand, in the night. 



4. It had good powers of flight, but could also run about 

 on the ground without difficulty. It was very tame and 

 unsuspicious. 



5. It laid generally, if not always, in burrows in the soil, 

 a single large white egg, of good flavour, like a hen's egg in 

 size and taste. 



6. It arrived at the Bermudas in October and remained 

 till about the first of June (Hughes). 



7. It laid its eggs in December and January, " in the 

 coldest months of the year." In this res[)ect it differed from 

 all other sea-birds of the northern hemisphere. Therefore it 

 probably spent its summer south of the equator, or else it 

 was a local pelagic species that remained constantly at sea 

 in summer, perhaps not far away. 



8. In size it was compared to a " pigeon" and to a " green 

 plover " and to a " partridge." Therefore its egg must have 

 been very large in comparison with the size of the body of 

 the bird. The large number of birds said to have been eaten 

 at a meal also indicates a rather small bird. 



9. It had a strong hooked bill and could bite viciously. 

 No mention was made of its ejecting oily or other matter 

 from its bill for defence, as do the ])etrels. 



10. Its colour was " russet-brown" on the back; its quill- 

 feathers were russet-brown and white; its belly was white 

 [Strachy) . 



In this combination of characters it differs from all known 

 birds. 



The following gra))hic account of the bird and its habits 

 was written by Mr. W. Strachy, one of the party of 150 

 persons who were wrecked with Sir George Somers in the 

 ' Sea Venture,' July, 1609 :— 



" A kinde of webbe-footed Fowle there is, of the bignesse 

 of an English greene Plover, or Sea-Meawe, which all the 

 Summer we saw not, and in the darkest nights of November 

 and December (for in the night they onely feed) they would 

 come forth, but not flye farre from home, and hovering in the 

 ayre, and over the Sea, made a strange hollow and harsh 

 howling. They call it of the cry which it maketh, a Cohow. 

 Their colour is inclining to Russet, with white bellies, as are 



