Our Bird Viiiiors, 



CHAPTER I. 



FROM ENGLAND TO THE FALKLANDS 



AFTER various delays, owing to defects in machinery, we 

 finally bade adieu to the shores of England on the 25 th 

 of September, 1878, taking our departure from Plymouth. 



On the second day at sea the little storm-petrels appeared 

 over our wake, and accompanied us, off and on, for most of our 

 way to Madeira. These seemed to be of two kinds, the Tlialas- 

 sidroma pelagica and Thalassidroma Leachii, the latter being suf- 

 ficiently recognizable from their having forked tails, in which 

 respect they differ from other species of the genus. Many at- 

 tempts were made to catch them by means of hooks baited with 

 fat, skeins of thread, etc., but all to no purpose; and I rather 

 fancy that in this thoroughfare of the ocean the wily creatures 

 have had too much experience of the arts of man, and are there- 

 fore not to be caught so easily as their more ignorant brethren of 

 the southern hemisphere. 



On the 28th of September, when 155 miles to the westward of 

 Cape P^inisterrc, and during a fresh easterly breeze, a sparrow-hawk 

 made his appearance, at first hovering round the ship, and ulti- 

 mately settling on the rigging. It had probably strayed too far 

 from the shore in the pursuit of some tempting prey, and had then 

 lost its reckoning, being eventually blown to seaward. At ali 

 events, it had travelled some long distance, as it evinced its 

 weariness by resting quietly and contentedly on the main-top- 

 gallant rigging, until one of the seamen, who had managed to 



