MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



found within the Antarctic Circle, of a brown colour, with a white belly and rump, and 

 a large white spot on the wings, which he called the " Antarctic Petrel." Many of these 

 birds were subsequently seen and shot, but unfortunately none fell into the ship. 



The naturalists on board the " Erebus " and " Terror " obtained specimens in 

 Lat. 77°40'S., Long. 179° E. ; the bird was also encountered by the " Discovery " 

 in November, 1901, in Lat. 61° 46' S., Long. 140° E., and again at Cape Adare in 

 January, 1902. The " Southern Cross " Expedition likewise met with it immediately 

 on entering the Pack Ice, but it disappeared when the ship was fast in the pack. It was 

 observed again on the northward voyage in Lat. 65° 33' S., Long 165° 48' E. During 

 a hurricane in February, 1899, Nikolai Hanson mentions having seen a large 

 number of a brown-backed Petrel off South Victoria Land (Rep. Voy. " Southern 

 Cross" p. 93), but its farthest record south was by the " Discovery " in Lat. 

 78° S. Observations of this Petrel were made by the " Belgica " Expedition, and 

 examples of both sexes were obtained by the " Challenger " on the ice barrier in 

 June, 1874 (Salvin, P. Z. 8., 1878, p. 737). The Scottish Antarctic Expedition noted 

 only a few specimens at the South Orkney Islands, but, it was thought by members 

 of the expedition that P. antarctica might breed on the east side of the Ferguslie Penin- 

 sula, on Laurie Island, together with the Cape and Snowy Petrels (Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 

 1906, p. 169). Numbers were seen at Saddle Island, March, 1903, and between Lat. 

 60° and 72° S., and Long. 16° and 44° W., and not less than twenty specimens were shot 

 on March 14th at Coats Land in Lat. 74° S., when the " Scotia " was locked in the ice. 

 Previously to this, thousands were seen in company with McCormick's Skuas, Giant 

 and Snowy Petrels, and Arctic Terns, but the bird was not observed on this occasion 

 farther north than Lat. 68° 26' S., Long. 16° 11' W. 



The course of the " Magenta " seems to have been northward of the range of 

 Thalassceca antarctica, which is not mentioned by Professor Giglioli in his account of the 

 birds observed during that celebrated voyage, though specimens were procured by 

 Zelebor, on the " No vara," to the south of Cape Horn (Pelz., Reis. Novara, 

 Vog., p. 47). 



The British Museum contains an example from Cape Horn, formerly in our 

 collection, and Dr. Wilson, of the " Discovery," noticed T. antarctica in the Pacific, 

 soon after leaving New Zealand and until within four days of his arrival off Cape 

 Horn (Wilson, Nat. Antarctic Exped., II., p. 83). 



Beyond the usual observations connected with the distribution of the Antarctic 

 Petrel, no notes of any consequence have been published as regards its habits, from 

 which we may gather that they do not differ from those of other Fulmars and 

 Shearwaters. The birds may be seen congregating in numbers, Hanson having noticed 

 as many as a hundred together, while Mr. Bruce, on the " Scotia," speaks of flocks 

 of thousands. Mr. Borchgrevinck states that when approaching Cape Adare, in 

 South Victoria Land, during gales the birds swept low over the land like a cloud ; few 



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