ON THE BIRDS OF THE WEDDELL AND ADJACENT SEAS. 265 



was the bird which Weddell met with on February 18th, 1823, a little further to the 

 west, in 73 S., where he tells us (op. cit., pp. 35-6), " the sea was literally covered with 

 birds of the Blue Petrel kind." Ross (t.c., p. 359) also mentions a "Blue Petrel" as 

 seen in the Weddell Sea in 67 06' S. and 8 35' W. Banks's Whale-bird (Prion 

 banksi), the other "Blue Petrel" of the Expedition, was not obtained beyond 66 S., 

 and I am not aware of any reliable record of its occurrence within the Antarctic Circle. 



"Blue Petrels" appear very frequently in the Log of the Scotia during the two 

 southern voyages, but H. cxrulea was not obtained north of 64 29' S., and the ten 

 specimens in the collection were secured between that latitude and 69 33' S., and 

 longitudes 12 49' W. and 35 29' W. All but two were obtained south of 68, and in 

 the month of March (1903 and 1904). On February 25th, 1904, two specimens of this 

 species, and one of Priori banksi, were captured in 64 29' S. and 35 29' W. 



Weddell (op. cit., p. 144) mentions the Blue Petrel as occurring at the South 

 Shetlands, but later explorers do not mention Halobsena cserulea for that group or for 

 the Antarctic regions proper. It would seem that this species is local in its far southern 

 range, and is a specially characteristic bird of the Weddell Sea. It was not seen at the 

 South Orkneys during the summer, nor was it encountered at sea in the vicinity of 

 that archipelago. 



In some of the specimens in the collection the white feathers of the forehead show 

 their dark bases, and thus the front presents a mottled appearance. The bill in freshly 

 killed examples was cobalt-blue, except the nares and culmen, which were black. The 

 feet were cobalt-blue, the webs pale flesh-coloured, the claws black. 



Pi-ion banksi Gould. 



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



Banks's Whale-bird (and perhaps others of its genus*), as has already been stated, 

 when treating of Halob&na cserulea, was logged during the Antarctic voyages of the 

 Scotia as a " Blue Petrel." Here, however, the specimens collected with such praise- 

 worthy diligence again come to our aid, and enable us not only to distinguish between 

 the two species on important occasions, but also to extend the southern range of this 

 bird from 60 S. (fide Salvin, t.c., p. 434. and the Antarctic Manual) to 66 S.t 



The first specimens, a male and female, were procured on February 9th, 1903, when 

 the Scotia was off the edge of the pack-ice in 59 42' S. and 34 13' W., or about mid- 

 way between the South Orkneys and Southern Thule, the most southerly of the Sandwich 

 Group. These were the only examples obtained during the Antarctic voyage of 1903. 



* Prion desolat its appears (Antarctic Manual, p. 231) to reach the edge of the Antarctic Circle, having been ob- 

 tained by the Challenger at the ice-barrier. It breeds at Kerguelen. This bird was not obtained by the Scottish 

 Expedition. 



f In the Liverpool Museum, however, there is a specimen which is believed to have been obtained by Dr J. Hooker 

 off Victoria Land in 70 S. This example is recorded, along with ^EgialitisfaUclandica, Nettionflavirostre, and Podicipes 

 ealipureus, as new to Antarctica in the Bulletin of the Museum (ii. p. 48). None of these species have come under the 

 notice of later observers within the Antarctic Circle. 



