1877.] THE NORTH POLAR RASIN. 29 
the sea on the 28th July +35° Fahr.; on the 29th, after entering 
Smith’s Sound, the temperature fell to + 31°, rising again in Buchanan 
Strait to +34°, where birds were comparatively abundant both in 
species and in numbers. On the 4th of August in the main channel 
the temperature fell to + 30° and +31°, rising again in the shallower 
waters of Franklin-Pierce Bay to +33°; and as we proceeded north- 
wards up the main channel the water fell to+29°, which became its 
normal temperature until frozen over. I insert these observations on 
temperature because I am led from them to the conclusion that the 
distribution of the Arctic species of birds that derive their sustenance 
from the sea is dependent in a great measure on the surface-tem- 
perature of the sea-water. After crossing the North Water on the 
29th July 1875, and passing north of Cape Isabella, Mergulus alle 
disappeared. A few Fulmars(Procellaria glacialis) followed the ship ; 
but on the following day, when we were embayed in the ice off Cape 
Sabine, they had all left us. Taking shelter from the pack drifting 
down the Sound we found a commodious little harbour with open 
water close to Cape Sabine. There we found a colony of about 25 
pairs of Larus glaucus breeding, the young nearly ready to fly. 
Some 6 or 7 pairs of Ivory Gulls (Pagophila eburnea) frequented 
this harbour; but we failed to discover their nesting-haunts. We 
noticed a pair of Ravens (Corvus corax) ; and many Eiders (Somateria 
mollissima) were breeding on the small islets, the eggs deeply incu- 
bated on the Ist of August. On the 4th of August. we had worked 
round Cape Sabine into Buchanan Strait. There we noticed a few 
Mergulus alle, two or three examples of <Alca arra, several Sterna 
macrura, and on shore several Plectrophanes nivalis, and a single 
example of Agialitis hiaticula, which proved to bea 2. On the 
10th and 11th of August we found a few Eiders (Somateria mol- 
lissima) breeding on Norman-Lockyer Island, two pairs of Sterna 
macrura breeding, and one or two Pagophila eburnea hovering over 
pools and cracks in the floe. On the 14th of August, at Cape 
Hilgard, we found the Black Guillemot (Uria grylle) breeding in the 
limestone cliffs at an elevation of from 400 to 500 feet, and noticed a 
solitary Larus glaucus cruising along the shore. Our sportsmen also 
procured that day on the shores of Dobbin Bay a ? and ¢ adult 
Logopus rupestris and three young ones. A flock of three Turn- 
stones (Strepsilas interpres) passed the ship, flying south ; I shot 
one, a bird of the year. August 16th, near Hayes point, Mr. Hart 
observed a pair of White Falcons (Falco candicans) nesting in a lofty 
cliff. A few miles further north I saw a pair of Ivory Gulls nesting in 
a high precipice ; but it was impossible to reach the spot. On August 
13th, when embayed in the ice near the shore in N, lat. 79° 37’, 
Black Guillemots were observed to be nesting in the cliffs in con- 
siderable numbers. 
During our run from Cape Collinson through Kennedy Channel, 
which was comparatively open, to Bessel’s Bay I did not notice a 
single bird; but in Bessel’s Bay Black Guillemots (Uria grylle) 
were numerous, and a considerable number of Somaterie with their 
young broods were seen on the 23rd of August. Discovery Bay was 
