20I 



NOTES AND COM/VIENTS. 



ANTARCTIC BIRDS. 



Mr. W. Eagle Clarke, the President of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union, has contributed to the ' Ibis' an exceedingly 

 valuable paper on ' Ornithological Results of the Scottish 

 National Antarctic Expedition,' the present paper dealing with 

 the birds of the South Orkney Islands. In Mr. Clarke's mono- 

 graph are several items of great interest. He describes rookeries 

 of three species of Penguin, some of which ' contain several 

 millions of inhabitants, and their daily life presented scenes so 

 remarkable as to be almost be}'ond description. The Ringed 



Departure of Uentoo Penguins. 



(Scotia Bay.! 



Penguin, hitherto regarded as being nowhere an abundant 

 species, was found to have its metropolis at the South Orkneys, 

 where the summer population on Lawrie Island alone was 

 estimated at not less than one million birds.' Eggs of the 

 familiar Cape Petrel (hitherto unknown to science), and the 

 chicks and young of the Ringed Penguin and Snowy Petrel, and 

 eggs of Wilson's Petrel, the Sheathbill and the Blue-eyed Shag, 

 were also taken in abundance. ' The series of bird skins is one 

 of the most important ever made in the Antarctic Seas. It 

 comprises one hundred and forty-three specimens, representing 

 sixteen out of the eighteen species now known to frequent the 



1906 July I. 



