202 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



by the frequent passing to and fro of these 

 animals. 



It would not be so very difficult for an ex- 

 pedition to visit the island, for at least once every 

 month a schooner or a small steamer leaves 

 Valparaiso and calls there, and I have no doubt 

 that one could easily reach it by these means. 



The whole of my time during our short visit 

 was spent in collecting specimens of natural 

 history, and I had no opportunity of visiting the 

 caves and stone houses. Birds and insects were 

 very scare in fact, I have never seen an island of 

 the size of Easter Island inhabited by so few 

 birds. 



There is apparently but one species of indigenous 

 land-bird. This bird I did not meet with, but it 

 was described to me by Dr. Macdonald, who saw 

 a single example near the settlement, as being 

 somewhat like a reed-bunting but with a red 

 breast. I believe this to be an undescribed species, 

 and it is unfortunate that no specimen was 

 procured. 



There is a tinamou, a bird much resembling 

 a partridge, but this has been introduced from 

 South America. Two of these birds, which were 

 shot and skinned, proved to belong to a common 

 species of tinamou, known as Nothoprocta 

 perdicaria. Sea-birds were rather more numerous, 

 but these were mostly seen from the ship before 

 we landed. On the island itself I saw but two 



