34 Vallentin, Notes on the Falkland Islands. 



paid them a visit. The male bird would utter his hoarse 

 bull-frog note, and rush at the nearest intruder, who 

 would at once turn tail, only to be overtaken and receive 

 a very rough handling from his irate parent. Usually, 

 however, the chase was not a successful one, owing to the 

 furious male suddenly changing, his mind while pursuing 

 one, and rushing at a second, or a third of his fledglings ; 

 and so all would escape without chastisement. Some- 

 times I have observed the male bird almost startle the 

 life out of his unsuspecting youngster by adopting the 

 following stratagem : the parent birds would be feeding 

 on the numerous bivalves, obtained by diving and return- 

 ing to the surface to devour them at leisure ; when a 

 newly-fledged youngster would manage to approach to 

 within twenty-five yards of them unobserved. On his 

 being detected, the male bird would stop feeding and 

 manoeuvre round a little, as if to get the exact distance 

 between himself and his unsuspecting visitor. All at once 

 he would dive, and proceed under water in a bee line 

 towards the object of his ire, when he would suddenly 

 pop up alongside him, and instantly administer a good 

 cuffing to his amazed youngster. Occasionally the young 

 bird obtained a glimpse of his parent as he was rising to 

 the surface beneath him ; but usually it was too late to 

 move, and the first intimation the young bird would 

 receive was a ' word and a blow ' delivered simultaneously. 

 This singular method of attack is always undertaken by 

 the male bird ; I have observed it a number of times, and 

 owing to the clearness of the sea-water have been able to 

 watch the whole game. 



The newly-fledged steamer ducks when driven off by 

 their respective parents invariably herd together in 

 numbers of from fifty to a thousand. At West Point 

 Island, where this species was most numerous, 1 should 



