G. E. Verrill — Some Birds and Eggs, etc, 43 1 



During the months that Mr. Comer spent on these islands he had 

 a very good opportunity to observe the birds and their habits, and 

 his notes are quite full and prove very interesting. In addition to 

 the special notes in regard to the birds, he has very kindly placed 

 his daily journals of the voyages at my disposal, and from them I 

 have taken the liberty of making many extracts. Mr. Comer stated 

 particularly, that in his notes he had included nothing of which he 

 was not certain from personal observation, unless it was distinctly 

 stated to the contrary, and so had omitted many things, commonly 

 believed and stated to be true with regard to these birds by the 

 sealers and whalers, but which he, himself had never observed. 



The collecting of the birds and eggs was attended with great diffi- 

 culty, especially at Gough Island, for he was not provided with any 

 conveniences, had no arsenic, and it all had to be done at odd 

 moments when he could spare the time from his regular duties ; 

 nevertheless he procured and brought home two albatross skins 

 {Dioraedea exulans) and specimens of eight species of eggs in the first 

 collection from South Georgia. The collection made on the voyage 

 to Kerguelen and Gough Islands consisted of 25 bird skins, of 14 

 species, two of them new ; five bird skeletons, all different species ; 

 and about 340 eggs of 13 species. 



South Georgia* is in about Lat. 54° 58' S., and a few hundred 

 miles to the eastward of Cape Horn. 



It is nearly 100 miles long, with an average width of about 10 

 miles, deeply indented with bays, and covered with lofty mountains, 

 the tops of which are perpetually covered with snow. Vegetation 

 is, however, rather abundant in the valleys during the summer. A 

 strong-bladed grass about two feet high is almost the only natural 

 production of the soil. Yery little seems to have been written con- 

 cerning its avifauna, but, from its proximity to Cape Horn, the Falk- 

 land Group and the other surrounding groups of islands, of most of 

 which the fauna is well known, it can be pretty well predicted what 

 birds will be found there. 



Gough Island appears to be but very little known and I can find 

 no account of its fauna, except as it may be included in the Tristan 



* For historical and geographical sketches of this and the two following islands 

 see "The Fisheries and Fishing Industries of the U. S/' by G. Browne Goode and 

 associates, vol. ii, Part xviii, pp. 412, 413, 415 and 418, from which many of the 

 following fads with regard to these islands are taken. 



