The Zoologist — March, 1866. 115 



T include under the designation of oceanic birds all those which pass 

 their lives at a great distance from land except dining the breeding- 

 season ; in fact, all the Longipennes, except gulls and pelicans, which 

 seek their food upon the waters, and are almost always on the wing, may 

 be properly called oceanic birds. Whilst at sea iu the southern hemi- 

 sphere 1 passed the greater part of m}' time watching these interesting 

 inhabitants of the air, and following Mr. Blyth's example, and laying 

 aside my gun for a telescope, or rather for an opera-glass, which 

 I found more convenient, I was enabled to watch their habits and 

 movements, whilst a strong line and fish-hook supplied me from time 

 to time with specimens, by the dissection of which I was enabled to 

 discover the usual food on which these birds subsist. 



Although valuable accounts of the habits of the petrel and the alba- 

 tross have been published, all that I have seen have related almost 

 exclusively to their habits during the breeding-season, on the Falk- 

 land Islands and on other rocky isles in the Southern Ocean, and 

 I remember no account of their habits and mode of life during the long 

 periods of their absence from land. 



The head-quarters of oceanic birds in the southern hemisphere are 

 the seas south of the tropic of Capricorn, and it is difficult to form 

 any idea of the numbers of these birds, 1 believe the blue petrels 

 ("prions," or "ice birds," as they are called by sailors) to be the most 

 numerous of all birds. They are extremely shy, unlike all the other 

 species which I observed, seldom approaching a ship, and never fol- 

 lowing it like the petrel and albatross, yet I have seen them in flocks 

 continually south of the 50th parallel, and at one time about 500 miles 

 east of Patagonia, in latitude 50° .30' South, in the month of January, 

 we crossed the track of an immense flight of prions; they were flying 

 in large flocks towards the land, and surrounded the shi)) for about 

 two hours. There appeared to be two species, but they were not 

 near enough for me to determine very accurately. Several limes 

 the air seemed filled with these birds, so that any attempt even to 

 guess at their numbers must be futile. 



The other species of sea birds probably appear much more numerous 

 than they are, owing to their following ships and remaining by thera 

 for many days. Although I never saw any of the petrels or the alba- 

 tross soar above the ship, or even rise twenty yards from the water 

 whilst near one, I have reason to believe that these birds often soar to 

 considerable altitudes when on the look out for a ship, if I may use the 

 expression ; for I have repeatedly seen an albatross almost as a speck 



