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SOME OENITHOLOGICAL BESULTS OF THE 

 SCOTTISH NATIONAL ANTAKCTIC EXPEDITION.* 



By W. S. Bruce, F.E.S.E. 



Any account of the birds taken by the Scottish National 

 Antarctic Expedition must at present necessarily be incom- 

 plete, since the collections are still in the hands of Mr. 

 William Eagle Clarke awaiting identification and description. 

 So far, I can only refer to Mr. Eagle Clarke's first paper in 

 the f Ibis,' 2 on the Birds of Gough. Island. Others are 

 following at a later date. 



The "Scotia," it may be remembered, left Scotland on 

 November 2nd, 1902, and was absent for nearly two years, 

 returning to the Clyde on July 22nd, 1904. During that 

 time she made two voyages to high southern latitudes, 

 cruising about 8000 miles, mostly in entirely unknown seas. 

 The expedition also wintered in the South Orkneys, discovered 

 150 miles of new Antarctic coast-line, viz., Coats Land, and 

 visited Gough Island, besides several other of the Atlantic 

 oceanic islands. 



I am glad to be able to report that altogether the bird 

 collections are the largest and most interesting that have ever 

 been brought back by any South Polar Expedition, but, at 

 present, my remarks must chiefly be confined to the birds of 

 Gough Island. 



Gough, or Alvarez Island as it should be more correctly 

 called, is an uninhabited island, and situated about half way 

 between Cape Town and Buenos Aires, in mid- Atlantic, in 

 latitude 40° 19' S. and longitude 9° 44' W., and about 200 

 miles to the south and east of the Tristan da Cunha group. 

 It is small, being only about eight miles long and four broad. 

 It is of volcanic origin, rising from the mid-Atlantic 

 to a height of 4380 ft. above sea level; it has been 

 unvisited except by a few sealers, and on two occasions by 



1 This paper was profusely illustrated with lantern slides, showing the adults, 

 young, and eggs, of almost all the true Antarctic birds seen by the Expedition. 



2 Ornithological Eesults of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. I. On 

 the Birds of Gough Island, South Atlantic Ocean. By William Eagle Clarke, 

 F.E.S.E., F.L.S.— ' Ibis,' 1Ô05, pp. 247-268, pi. VI. 



