188 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



trasting finely with the wooded country about Cape IsTegro, 

 which stood out in dark relief, the trees and bushes forming 

 a serrated edge along the horizon. 



On the 3d we remained at our anchorage until the after- 

 noon, when we moved on to Sandy Point, and the following 

 morning the greater number of us landed soon after sunrise 

 and had a ramble over the country to the north of the settle- 

 ment. Many snipe were shot, as well as one or two speci- 

 mens of a kind of plover {Oreophilus nigricollis), and one of a 

 little gray bird (Muscisaxicola mentalis), which we noticed for 

 the first time, flying about the bushes in small flocks, and which 

 appears to possess a wide geographical range, as Mr. Darwin 

 mentions that he procured specimens of it from Bahia Blanca, 

 in northern Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Chiloe, and central 

 and northern Chili. The same author observes, what I my- 

 self also remarked, that " it frequents open places, so that in 

 the wooded countries it lives entirely on the sea-beaches, or 

 near the summits of mountains where trees do not grow." 

 On this occasion I again observed the characteristic foliage of 

 Oxalis enneo.phylla. We returned to the ship early in the 

 forenoon, soon after which we left Sandy Point ; and the 

 remainder of the day was occupied in the examination of 

 the Walker Shoal, a bank lying between and to the south of 

 Elizabeth and Santa Magdalena Islands. 



