li 7 2 W. S. Bruce: Some Ornithological Results 



British men-of-war. The general appearance of the island 

 is very beautiful, being" excessively green, even on the pre- 

 cipitous cliffs with which its coast is bounded, broken only by 

 occasional ravines, some of which do not descend to sea level. 

 Thus a series of fine cascades is formed, falling directly into 

 the sea or on to a very narrow beach ; all the lower parts of 

 the island up to fully a thousand • feet are thickly covered 

 with tussock-grass and buckthorn-trees, which form a shelter 

 for many of the birds inhabiting the island. 



Up to the time of the visit of the " Scotia " only 12 species 

 of birds were known ; the naturalists of the " Scotia " obtained 

 altogether 19 species, 12 of which were new to the ornis of 

 the island, and 2, if not 3, new to science, making altogether 

 a total of 24, if not 25. Of these there are only three terres- 

 trial forms, all of which are sj>ecies peculiar to the island, 

 viz., two Finches of the genus Nesospiza, and a flightless 

 Gallinule, Porphyriornis comeri. 



" The two species of Nesospiza are the most interesting, 

 not, however, because they are novelties, nor because we owe 

 our knowledge of them to the researches of the Scottish 

 Expedition, but because they differ very considerably from 

 their single congener, N. acunhae, peculiar to Tristan da 

 Cunha, where it is now confined to Inaccessible Island, though 

 it was formerly also found on the main island of the group." 



The " Water-hen " differs only slightly from that found on 

 Tristan da Cunha. These three terrestrial endemic birds are 

 entirely unknown elsewhere. Gough Island therefore must 

 be looked upon ornithologically as an outlier of the Tristan 

 da Cunha group. Except a Penguin, the other birds of Gough 

 Island are Tubinares. The following is the list of birds 

 captured by the Expedition or previously recorded : — 



1. Nesospiza goughensis, Eagle Clarke. Bright olive green 

 washed with silver grey. Female duller. Larger than N. 

 acunhae. 



2. Nesospiza jessiae, Eagle Clarke. Orange buff streaked 

 with black and dull yellow. 



3. Porphyriornis comeri, Allen. Flightless Gallinule differ- 

 ing from P. nesiotis of Tristan da Cunha. 



4. Sterna vittata, Gmelin. 



