BmJs. 0981 



windy and cold. The birds, however, would not wait, but flew off directly I showed 

 myself, and pitched again close to the next pond some distance off; I followed, but could 

 not get near them, and this time they flew right up into the clouds out of sight, 

 uttering a peculiar cry. I am quite certain as to the identity of the species, else I 

 would not trouble you with this. — Gervase F. Mathew ; Raleigh House, near Barn- 

 staple, April 2, I860. 



The Great Auk. — The great auk has not been met with by any of the modern 

 Arctic Expeditions. I was told in South Greenland that some, twenty-five years ago a 

 young specimen was obtained, but am not at all certain of the fact. The resident 

 Europeans are quite aware of the value attached by naturalists to the bird, so have 

 kept a sharp look-out for it. I have myself collected birds during my four arctic 

 voyages, all of which are now in the museum of the Royal Dublin Society. I ara 

 not aware of there being any new species among them. — F. J. M^Clintock ; in a 

 letter to R. Champeen, Esq., Scarborough. 



Use of the Albatross.— My son, who has just been round the Cape, brought me, as 

 a curiosity, the radius or small bone of the wing of an albatross, which is much in 

 request among sailors, as making an excellent tube for a pipe. The one I have is 

 long, perfectly smooth, and black from smoking. He has seen them considerably 

 longer. The following jeu d^esprit,'^ written by a friend of his on the subject, shows 

 the practical turn that Jack's mind has taken since the days of Coleridge's 'Ancient 

 Mariner : ' — 



A dead loss was the albatross 



The " Ancient Mariner " slew ; 

 The modern Tar, acuter far, ' 



Makes him into a stew. 



Day after day did that silly old man 

 Over his dead bird cry ; 



The " Mid," more ripe, of its wing njakes a pipe, 

 And smokes therein " Bird's-eye.'' 

 — E. Horlon; Wick, Worcester, March 31, 1860. 



Account of a Visit to a Nesting-place of the Frigate-bird (Fregata Aquila, L.). — 

 On the 1st of January, 1858, we went off in a boat with four rowers to visit an island 

 some four or five miles from Tigre Island, in the Bay of Fonseca, on the Pacific coast 

 of Honduras. It is called Bird Island, and is not more than an acre iu extent, and of 

 an oblong shape. At one end the beach is sandy, and at low water one can walk 

 across to another island close adjoining. At the other end the shore is rocky, and it is 

 much the same at the sides, the beach being strewn with large volcanic stones. The 

 surface of the island is some thirty or forty feet above the sea-level; it is covered with 

 long grass, and there are also a few trees and low shrubs — mangroves (Rhizophora 

 mangle, Linn.) — growing in places, especially about high water-mark. At a distance 

 the most conspicuous olyect was a numerous flight of frigate-birds soaring over the 

 island. As we approached, large white patches, caused by the droppings of the birds, 

 became visible. We landed on the flat sandy beach, and in a few minutes I had shot 

 a pair of tiger bitterns {Tigrisoma tigrinum), which allowed me to approach without 

 any diflScully. Besides these and the frigate-birds we saw no birds on the island, 

 except a few pelicans, some large Accipitres and a single booby (Sula fusca), which 

 had its nest on a low tree, in company with the frigate-birds. The whole island was 



