4 BIRDS OF KERGUELEN ISLAND. 



bars of tbeir cage. When let loose, they would often stay for several days 

 near the house, feeding as peaceably among the chickens as tame pigeons. 

 One, whose wing had been clipped, remained about the house for some 

 weeks, but finally wandered off, and was probably killed by a LestriSy 

 since I found its carcass, partly devoured, about a mile from the house. 



Opinions differed as to their ediblenessj the Germans considering them 

 the best bird on the island, while the whalers said that they would " do 

 very well when xerj short of fresh meat". We did not experiment upon 

 them at all, the flesh being dark and apparently tough. 



The Chionis is one of the latest, if not the very latest, of the Kergue- 

 len birds in pairing and nesting. They were observed to have begun to 

 pair December 11 j but no egg was found until January 10, the day of 

 our departure, when the Rev. Mr. Eaton found several nests. To his 

 courtesy I am indebted for my only specimen, unfortunately not accom- 

 pa,nied by any description of the nest, except a message that it was 

 found near the sea. From Captain Fuller, of the whaling-schooner 

 Eoswell King, however, I learn that the Sheath-bill is famous for its skill 

 in concealing its nest, never going near its eggs while any one is in 

 sight. He states that they build in the crevices formed by rocks that 

 have fjillen upon or against one another, and that the nests are con- 

 structed of dried grass. There were three eggs in the nest from which 

 my specimen came, marked in different shades of color. I am quite 

 positive that, up to January 5, none of the Chionis living near our sta- 

 tion had begun to lay, since I kept them under the closest possible 

 observation, being particularly anxious to get their eggs. The eggs are 

 of unusually large size in proportion to that of the bird. 



QUERQUEDULA EATONI, -S/tay^Je. 



Eaton's Teal. 



Querquedula eatoni, Sharpe, Ibis, July, 1875, p. 328 (quoted from advance sheets). 



I was entirely at a loss for a name for this teal; but, just as these sheets were going 

 to press, I received, through the courtesy of Mr. Salvin, advance proof-sheets of the 

 " Ibis", in which it Is described as new. Mr. Sharpe's description is reproduced in the 

 accompanying foot-note.* 



**'(?. suprti brunneus, plumis plurimis griseo marginatis, rufescenti-fulvo raq,culati3 

 aut fasciatis : scapularibus nigricantioribus : pileo paullo rufescentiore plurals nigro 

 medialiter striatis ; facie laterali et gutture albican tibus, minutfe nigro striolatis, mento 

 fulvescenti-albo : corpora reliquo subths albicante, brunneo marmorato, plumis plerisque 

 pectoralibus versus basin griseo-brunneis aut medialiter brunneo striatis : hypochondriis 

 hrunueis, albido terminatis et rufescenti-fulvo transfasciatis : subcaudalibus rufescenti- 

 fulvis, nigro adumbratis, longioribus nigricautibus fulvo terminatis ; tectricibus alarum 



