240 ORNITHOLOGY OF THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



previous to the discoveries of the Scottish Expedition were obtained in burrows and 

 grottoes on the island of Kerguelen. There is little doubt that the Cape Petrel breeds 

 at South Georgia, and Mr Mossman tells me that he saw it in numbers off Deception 

 Island, one of the South Shetlands, in the height of the nesting-season. 



This species is a summer visitor to the South Orkneys. In the autumn of 1903 it 

 was only once seen after April 21st, on which date a flock was observed flying north, 

 and was entirely absent during May, June, July, August, and September. The first of 

 the spring immigrants was seen on October 1st, but the bird was not noted again until 

 the 23rd, after which date it became frequent. 



About 20,000 resort to Laurie Island for nesting purposes, and they are found in 

 hundreds all round the coast. In Uruguay Cove alone there were over one hundred 

 accessible nests, and many others were out of reach. They also nest on Saddle Island, 

 where both young and old were obtained on February 4th, 1903, and are doubtless 

 abundant throughout the other islands of the archipelago, which may be regarded as a 

 metropolis of the species. 



They were never observed flying over the land, but were to be seen on the wing in 

 front of the cliffs (not wheeling high over them, like Pagodroma nivea) or sailing over 

 the sea. 



The chick in down, five days old, taken on January 18th, 1904, is slate-grey above, 

 and paler and sooty on the under surface. 



A young bird obtained at Saddle Island on February 4th, 1903, has the head and 

 body clad in down, with feathers developing on the wings and scapulars. The down on 

 the upper surface is sooty (darker on the head and cheeks) and paler and greyish on 

 the under parts. The wing-quills, the largest of which are 2 inches in length, are black, 

 some of them with the inner webs white towards the base. The feathers of the scapulars 

 are black and white. There are no signs of tail-feathers. Wing 8 inches. 



The mature birds from the South Orkneys and the Weddell Sea present two types 

 of plumage. The first of these, which perhaps represents old birds in weathered dress, 

 were captured towards the end of summer (in February) ; and in them the dark portions 

 of the plumage are blackish with a brown cast, the head alone being black ; the feathers 

 of the mantle have whitish bases ; and the marginal and lesser coverts show less white 

 than in the next form. In the second type the dark portion of the plumage is slate- 

 black, and the bases of the feathers of the mantle are dusky. Specimens in this phase 

 were obtained early in the autumn (late in March), and are either in new or first 

 plumage. A male captured on the nesting-ledges on December 3rd, 1903, is intermediate 

 in plumage between these two forms. 



Prion banksi Gould. 

 Prion banksi Cat. B., xxv. p. 434. 



This " Whale-bird " fairly claims a place in the avifauna of the South Orkneys on 

 the strength of specimens seen off Coronation Island, within the territorial waters of 



