158 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
between the genera Anas and Aptenodytes. When adult it 
measures about three feet from tip of bill to end of tail, and is 
said to weigh from thirteen to fourteen pounds. Think of that, ye 
English sportsmen who are wont to pride yourselves on bringing 
down a fine Mallard of three pounds! 
Dr. Coppinger is inclined to think that there are two species 
of Steamer-duck in the fresh-water lakes of Central Patagonia, 
one of which possesses the power of flight. This also was the 
opinion of Capt. King (Voyage of the ‘ Adventure’ and ‘ Beagle’), 
but the late Robert Cunningham, in his excellent ‘ Notes on the 
Natural History of the Strait of Magellan’ (1871), expressed 
his belief that ‘‘ the variations in size, capability of flight, and 
colouring of plumage are chiefly dependent on the age of the 
birds.” 
Land-shells in this part of the world seemed scarce. Dr. 
Coppinger says :— 
“T met with representatives of only four species, of which one, a 
specimen of Helix, I found on the frond of a Hymenophyllum at Tom Bay. 
Two others of the same genus were taken from the rotten trunk of a tree 
in the same locality. At Port Henry, in the Trinidad channel, and other 
parts in the neighbourhood, I collected several specimens of a species of 
Succinea which clings to dead leaves and decayed pieces of driftwood lying 
on the shore just above high-water mark. These four species of shells 
have since been described by Mr. Edgar Smith, of the British Museum, as 
new to Science. In a fresh-water lake, where I made some casts of a light 
dredge, I obtained, from the bottom of stinking mud, several examples of a 
large Unio shell and some small shells of the genus Chilinia. I afterwards 
found species of Unio in a stream issuing from the lake. North of the 
English Narrows, many pond-snails of the genus Chilinia were also found 
abundantly in the stream-beds.” 
Of course the most important portion of the collections made 
during the voyage of the ‘ Alert’ was that comprising the marie 
Invertebrata, amongst which many new forms were discovered 
and fresh specimens of little-known species obtained. 
The circumstances under which these were collected will be 
found fully detailed in Dr. Coppinger’s narrative, while the 
scientific descriptions, with remarks on their affinities, structure, 
and so forth, have been given with great care in the British 
Museum Report. 
