348 Mr. A. H. Evans^- Bird-Notes 



board, but near the Desertas Oceanodroma castro, Procellaria 

 pelagica, and Puffinvs kuldi were identified, while in more 

 southern latitudes Daption cupensis and Majaqueus (equi- 

 noctial is came under observation, and the Albatroses Diomedea 

 melanophrys and Thalassogeron chlororly nchus were our 

 constant companions. As the two latter followed in the 

 wake of the ship a considerable amount of wing-action was 

 apparent, and they did not exhibit to the same extent the 

 long-sustained sailing-motion so characteristic of D. exulans. 

 The two forms occurred together, and their habits and 

 appearance certainly did not suggest their assignment to 

 separate genera. Larus dominicanus and Spheniscus demersus 

 made their appearance in Table Bay ; Sula capensis, Phala- 

 crocorax capensis, and P. africanus, if not other members of 

 the hitter genus, were frequently seen off the coast, while a 

 species of Prion was observed in small parties, though not 

 identified, dining the latter part of the voyage. This was 

 probably P. desolatus. 



The visitor to South Africa during the southern winter is 

 at once struck by the fact that, though birds are plentiful 

 enough and even abundant in many places, the number of 

 species seen is small compared with what might be expected 

 from books on the Avifauna ; this is, of course, partly 

 due to the season of the year, but even more to the vast 

 stretches of waterless land with their limited capabilities. 

 No fault, however, can be found with the Cape Peninsula, 

 where the surroundings are admirably adapted to bird-life ; 

 Table Mountain with its heathery slopes and gorges full of 

 hardwood trees and evergreens, the suburbs at its back with 

 their splendid avenues of oaks, pines, gums, Casuarinas, and 

 undergrowth of wattle-trees, the sandy shores backed by 

 broken and rocky ground, and the wide stretch of barren 

 scrub known as the Cape Flats situated behind the residential 

 quarters between Cape Town and Simonstown, all affording 

 food and shelter to species of the most different requirements. 



At the time of our arrival the general breeding-season 

 could hardly be said to have begun, though a Weaver- bird 

 (Sitagra capensis) was busily lining its pendent nests, which 



