4 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO I776. 



shelldrakes, are the same as in Europe. But here is a species of ducks, called 

 the loggerhead, from its large head. They have sliort wings, are unable to fly, 

 and only swim and flap along on the water at an extraordinary rate. When driven 

 ashore with boats they run fast, but soon squat down and are easily caught; they 

 are eatable, though but indifferent food; they are of a dark, brown dirty colour. 

 Snipes are plenty, and so exceedingly tame that we could sliy at them with sticks, 

 and get a dish whenever we wanted. Of small birds there are several sorts: the 

 red breast, speckled on the back like a partridge; the yellow breast, the white 

 throat; the quaker, from its plumage being of the colour those people wear; 

 the sparrow; tom-tit; linnets; and a bird like a goldfinch. Hawks are nume- 

 rous; the eagle, the goshhawk, the sparrow and the common hawk. Of every 

 kind our crew ate, and found them very good and nourishing; owls are not 

 numerous. 



The latter end of September or beginning of October, the sea birds begin to 

 come on shore to build nests and lay. The first which apj^ear are the albatross, 

 which are about the size of a large goose, quite white, except their wings, which 

 are a dark brown; the bills are of a dirty yellow, about 3 inches long; very 

 strong, and the edges sharp as a knife, hooked at the point; they breathe hard 

 through 2 small holes in the bill close to the head, and frequently make a sound 

 like a trumpet which children buy at fairs. Their wings are very long and nar- 

 row, with 4 joints in each wing, and extend 10 or 12 feet from tip to tip. Their 

 feet are webbed, very thin, have 3 claws; on the outer claw are 4 joints, the 

 middle 3, and the inner 1. They come to their nesting places by hundreds. 

 They sit very tame, and some continually sound their bills. They never move 

 off their nests let what will approach, and it was necessary to shove them off 

 whenever they wanted their eggs. The egg is much larger than a goose's. The 

 yolk is yellow; the white never boils hard, and always continues as clear as ising- 

 glass. The nests of these birds are made on the ground with earth; are round, 

 about 1 foot high, and dented at top. While the hen sits, the male keeps con- 

 stantly on the wing, and morning and evening returns with food to her. As 

 soon as these birds have hatched, and the young ones are able to leave their nests, 

 the jumping penguins repair to the nests and occupy them. The young alba- 

 trosses remain among them, while the old ones go and seek food, with which 

 they regularly return morning and evening. The season for every species of 

 birds, wild and tame, laying and hatching, is from Sept. to Dec. or Jan., and as 

 all the eggs are very eatable, navigators, touching at these islands in those 

 months, will meet great refreshment. In those 3 months we never meddled with 

 the land geese, as they were breeding and could not be good. 



Over the several islands is a surprising species of vegetation. It somewhat 

 resembles molehills in the marshy grounds in England. It is circular, sometimes 



