56 E. LÖNNBERG, CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FAUNA OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 



Chionis alfoa (Gmelin) 1788. 



Syn: Vaginalis alba Gmelin 1788. 



Chionis vaginalis Temminck 1830. 



9 $ c? Eoyal Bay, the 8 of Jan. 1905 »Iris light brown.» 



2 Boiler Harbonr, Cumberland Bay, the 30th of April 1905. »Irisli black». 



2 pull. from the nest, Unmberland Bay, the 6th of Febr. 1905. 



1 pull. from the same nest, kept in captivity till the 21t of Febr. 1905. 



$ 2 (skeletons) Royal Bay, the 8th of Jan. 1905. 



Although Chionis is quite a common bird on South Georgia, none of the former 

 expeditions has found its nest, or made any observations on its breeding habits. Mr 

 Sörling did not succeed in finding any nest with eggs, but he found three nests 

 containing, each of them, only one young. This seems to indicate that Chionis on 

 South Georgia is less prolific than Chionarchus which on Kerguelen Island, according 

 to Hall (13), usually has two and sometimes three eggs, but the Scottish Expedition 

 found on the South Orkneys the eggs of Chionis as well, usually being three in nura- 

 ber (21). Along the western side of Cumberland Bay where these nests were situated, 

 these three pairs were the only breeders according to Sörling's observations. The 

 nests were situated at a distance from the high water mark of 5 to 6 m. under some 

 large stones or boulders. These boulders had tumbled down from the mountain 

 above and formed, lying partly on top of each other, a rather large heap. The nest 

 was rather flat, and had been constructed of some straws of tussock-grass, some algae 

 and some möss. In and around the nest were found rotten fishes, limpet-shells, 

 algae etc. which together produced a disagreeable stench around the whole stone-heap. 

 The old birds>, Sörling says, »were not at all af raid when I approached the nest 

 but ran round my feet. I sat down at the entrance to the nest to study their be- 

 haviour and they went in and came out within half a yard from me. They did 

 not produce any sound but appeared quite mute, till I took the young and set it 

 down on the beach. Then they went towards him, calling him. The calling note 

 consisted of some short sounds: »snarp, snarp, snarp» or »arp, arp, arp», which were 

 repeated only thrice each time. The old birds were not more afraid than that I 

 could catch them with my bare hands. In this way I caught two pairs of Chionis and 

 put them in cages. I also confined their young together with one pair, the other 

 pair without young, as the latter had been preserved. They seemed to do well at 

 once, and fed the young with fish, meat and bread. One morning I found that the 

 two parental birds had managed to escape but left the young. They returned a 

 few times the same day to feed the young but then they stayed away for ever. 

 When the young had löst its parents it fed itself without help. The young was af- 

 ter a while moved to the other pair, and they then began to feed it as if it had been 

 their own young. After some days I found that the old birds had been let out. 

 The young Kved alone for a week, but then it died. Perhaps the food was not 

 suitable. » 



