Section V. On the Birds of the South Orkney Islands.* 



By WM. EAGLE CLARKE, F.E.S.E., F.L.S., Keeper of the Department of 

 Natural History of the Royal Scottish Museum. 



THE South Orkneys are a group of over a dozen islands situated between 60 and 

 61 S. lat., and 43 3' and 47 W. long. They lie some 600 miles S.E. by E. of the 

 Falkland Islands, about 500 S.W. of South Georgia, and 200 E. of the South Shetlands. 

 They were discovered by Powell in 1821, and were visited by Weddell in 1823, by 

 Dumont D'Urville in 1838, and by Larsen in 1893. The descriptions furnished by 

 these explorers were, however, meagre in the extreme, and until the visit of the 

 Scottish expedition the South Orkneys remained among the least-known lands lying on 

 the fringe of the South Polar Sea. t 



So far as their ornis is concerned, only two species of birds, and one of these prob- 

 lematical, have hitherto been alluded to namely, the Ringed Penguin (Pygoscelis 

 antarctica), of which a specimen was obtained on Weddell Island by D'Urville, and a 

 Crested Penguin (Catarrhactes) described by Larsen. 



The Scotia visited the islands on her voyage south in February 1903 ; subsequently, 

 having completed her first Antarctic cruise, she returned to the archipelago towards the 

 end of March and went into winter-quarters, remaining there for eight months, during 

 which period much valuable geographical and zoological work was accomplished. 



Only two of the islands are of considerable size namely, Coronation Island, which 

 is the most westerly, and Laurie Island, the most easterly. 



Laurie Island, where the Scotia wintered, was the main scene of the labours of the 

 expedition, and it is almost entirely upon observations and collections made during 

 eleven months' residence there that the following contribution is based. The length of 

 this island is about 12 miles, its maximum breadth 6 miles, and its area fully 30 square 

 miles. The interior is lofty, and several of the summits reach to an altitude of from 2000 

 to 3000 feet. A number of deep bays run inland from north to south, separated by 

 narrow rocky peninsulas or steep lofty mountain -ranges, and cause the island to have a 

 very remarkable outline. All the valleys are choked by glaciers, and what little exposed 

 rock is visible is precipitous in the extreme. Here and there on the lower slopes and 

 at sea-level are a few acres of more or less level ground. In winter the whole island 

 and even the faces of the precipitous cliffs are covered with snow, which does not com- 

 mence to disappear till October and November (the late spring and early summer months) ; 

 but then many patches of moss-covered ground are laid bare, some of them bearing soil 



* Reprinted, with slight verbal alterations, from The Ibis, Series VIII., vi., 1906, pp. 145-187. 

 t See The Voyage of the " Scotia," 1908. 

 VOL. IV. 219 3 



