NOTES OF A NATURALIST ON SPITZBERGEN. 323 



Trail). So far as I am aware not one Right Whale (Balana mysti- 

 cetus) was seen ; to the White Whale I shall refer later on. 



July 24th. At sea, lat. at noon 72° 8' N., fine. A large flock of 

 Kittiwakes followed the ship all day from the time of our first look 

 out in the morning. These were chased by Richardson's Skuas, 

 of which there were usually three to six or more in sight at once. 

 About 2 p.m., about lat. 72° 27' or 28', saw two Long-tailed Skuas 

 {Stercorarius longicaudus, Vieillot) together. Fulmar Petrels seen 

 all day, getting gradually more numerous as we got north, one or 

 more nearly constantly in sight. Guillemots, in parties of from 

 ten to twenty individuals, at frequent intervals ; we were unable 

 to satisfy ourselves whether these belonged to the Common or 

 Bninnich's species, but being to the south of Bear Island they 

 were probably of the former. Man)' were flying rather high for 

 Guillemots. Chapman observed a Richardson's Skua chase one 

 of these birds, which thereupon went "flop" into the water, and 

 dived out of the way of his persecutor. Several whales (? sp.) 

 seen during the day. At 9 p.m. came to a field of ice in about 

 N. lat. 73° 35', long. E. from Greenwich 19° 20'. 



July 25th. At sea, off Bear Island ; thick fog in morning, sea 

 very smooth. Through loose ice all the morning. Chapman saw 

 a single Black Guillemot early this morning. At about 10.30 a.m. 

 I saw a bird over the ship, the size of a Guillemot, but I caught 

 sight (in the fog) of a Puffin-like beak ; seeing it was turning back, 

 I directed the attention of one of my fellow-passengers to it, he 

 offering to bet any money that it was a Guillemot, from its size, 

 but as it flew close past us he agreed with me that it was a Puffin, 

 and this was no doubt the first Northern Puffin {Fratercula 

 glacialis, Leach) that crossed our track. After steering for a long 

 time dead slow through the ice, stopping the engines every few 

 minutes until a " lead " through the ice should offer itself, the fog 

 partially lifted for a moment, and allowed u& a glimpse of Bear 

 Island, to the S.W. of us. We then turned due south, and steamed 

 in that direction for about thirty miles until we had cleared the 

 ice, which we accomplished by about noon ; then turned N.W. 

 and saw Bear Island to starboard, distant about fifteen miles, 

 when our course was once more altered to N., the fog clearing by 

 degrees after we had left the ice. The surface-temperature of the 

 sea, as taken by Mr. Chapman (11.30 a.m.) was 32° Fahr., the 

 temperature of the air having been during the previous twenty- 



