902 STREPSILAS INTEEPEES. 



Ocean. It inhabits the Comoro Islands; and Mr. Newton observed it in the Seychelles at Curieuse, and also 

 on the island of Rodriguez in September ; he likewise met with it in Madagascar, on the east coast, in the same 

 month; and from this island it is also recorded by Messrs. Schlegel and Hartlaub. 



It migrates across the continent of Asia to the extreme north of Siberia ; but does not seem to have 

 been noticed on the Ob or Yenesay. On its passage to Northern Asia it occurs in the north-west of Turkestan, 

 and likewise traverses the highlands of Kashgaria, where it was met with in September by Dr. Henderson 

 near Yarkand. On the Taimyr river, in lat. 73^°, it was seen by Von Middendorff ; he found it breeding 

 there, and noticed that it had left that region by the 10th of August ; he also saw it on the Boganida, and in 

 the sea of Okhotsk met with it on Shantar Island. Dr. Dybowski says that it is not uncommon during 

 migration in Kultuk. It is found in Japan, and is pretty common on the mainland, being also met with in 

 Yezo. It does not seem to pass over the Mongolian territory on its way south in winter; and probably this is 

 the reason why it is so scarce on the Burmese coasts. It is, however, found on the shores of China in winter, 

 and visits Formosa and Hainan; in the latter island Mr. Sw : inhoe found it in large numbers in March on the 

 Poochin river. It does not seem to have been noticed in the Philippines ; but it has evidently been passed 

 over there, as it is found in the Pelew group, further cast ; and it has recently been obtained in the Admiralty 

 Islands by the 'Challenger' naturalists. It is distributed throughout all the Malay archipelago, having been 

 recorded from Borneo by several explorers, and also from Java, Banka, Timor, Ternate, Halmahcra, Morotai, 

 Ceram, and Celebes, in which latter island Dr. Meyer procured it in March. The large island of New 

 Guinea is, as a matter of course, visited by it; and from Torres Straits Gould records it in full summer 

 plumage; so that it is possible it may breed on some of the islands of the archipelago. It is found all round 

 the coasts of Australia, extending to Tasmania. In New Zealand it was obtained in 1870 on the Ninety-mile 

 Beach ; and since then Dr. Haast and Captain Hutton have procured it, in the latter case in summer plumage. 

 It is found in New Caledonia ; and recently Layard records it from Viti Levu and the island of Koro, in Fiji. 

 Mr. Leopold Layard also believes he saw it in the New Hebrides, from where Gray records it, as well as from 

 Aneiteum. It has been obtained in the Samoa, the Viti, the Sandwich, and the Marianne groups, as also in 

 the islands of Ponape and Niafou, and doubtless occurs throughout all Oceanica. 



Turning towards Europe, as regards its distribution in which I have space only for an outline, we find 

 that it is common on the shores of the Caspian, a spring and autumn visitor on the coasts of the Black Sea 

 and the sea-board of Greece, an occasional visitor to Turkey, that it appears irregularly in Malta and Gozo, 

 occurring there in May, August, and September, a bird of passage in Sardinia and Sicily (in the former during 

 the spring chiefly), and also that it is found in the Balearic Islands, in which Von Homeyer was informed 

 that it bred. It is said to be rare in Italy. Looking towards the north of Europe, we find that it is a bird of 

 passage in Belgium, and that it occurs chiefly in winter in Holland. In Denmark it arrives in spring and 

 breeds in many localities ; and northward of this it is found more or less commonly on the shores of the Baltic, 

 in the Gulf of Bothnia, on the coasts of Scandinavia anil Northern Russia, extending to Nova Zcmbla, where 

 Von Bacr met with it ; and further north still to Spitzbergen, where Professors Newton and Malmgren 

 observed it in the month of July, and whence there is a specimen in the Stockholm Museum, procured by the 

 collectors of the latter gentleman. It has also been observed in Central Russia dxtring migration. In Great 

 Britain it is common in spring and autumn ; and on the west coast of Scotland it is seen as late as June, reap- 

 pearing in August ; and it is believed to breed in the Shetlands and Hebrides. In the Faroes Capt. Feilden 

 found it in pairs in June; and it very probahly breeds in these islands, although he was unsuccessful 

 in finding its eggs. It is common in Iceland from April until autumn ; but it was also obtained by 

 Faber there in December. It breeds both in North and South Greenland, and was obtained on Sabine Island 

 by the last German Arctic expedition. During the expedition of 1875-7G Captain Feilden writes that it was 

 found tolerably abundant in Smith Sound, and was observed a* late as 5th September in lat. 82° 30'; it was 

 first noticed on the 5th of June near the winter-quarters of the ' Alert,' and by the 12th of August the young 

 broods were able to fly. Returning to Europe, we are told that it is tolerably numerous on the coasts of 

 France in autumn, but rare on those of Portugal ; and in the south of Spain Col. Irby has observed it in 

 spring and autumn. According to Favier it is found in Tangier in September and February, and occurs some- 

 times on freshwater lakes. It occurs in Algeria during migration, and has been recently obtained at Damietta 

 in Egypt. Von Ileuglin met with it on the Red Sea in May and July ; and it likewise breeds there, as he saw 



