PAGODROMA NIVEA. 



the distribution of the species, as follows : — " South Georgia, breeding (von d. Steinen, 

 Andersson, May to August) ; South Orkney Islands, November, breeding ; Coats 

 Land (Bruce) ; S. Shetlands, January to March (teste H. Saunders) ; Cumberland 

 Gulf, May ; Uruguay Island, December (eggs) ; Cockburn and Lockery Islands, 

 breeding ; Robertson Island, February (Andersson) ; Paulet Island, James Ross 

 Island, Louis Philippe Land (Klinckowstrom) ; Cockburn Island, breeding (Ross) ; 

 McMurdo Sound (Wilson) ; Cape Adare (Hanson) ; Victoria Land, February 

 (McCormick) ; Gaussberg, near Bouvet Island, breeding November, December 

 (Vanhoffen) ; Booth Island, October (French Antarctic Expedition)." 



The above records prove that P. nivea is found throughout the entire 

 area of the Antarctic Continent, as known at present, and that it has been invariably 

 observed in the Pack Ice by all the different exploring expeditions. Nikolai Hanson 

 and H. B. Evans, the naturalists on board the " Southern Cross," obtained several 

 specimens in 1898, in Lat. 62° 52' to 65° 3' S., and Long. 159° 25' to 161° 42' E., and 

 at Cape Adare in South Victoria Land, where numbers were seen flitting about the 

 summits of the most inaccessible cliffs (Sharpe, Rep. Voy. " Southern Cross,''' p. 149). 

 The birds accompanied the " Discovery " until its winter quarters in McMurdo Sound 

 were reached, but this was so far south that there were only a few stragglers seen, and 

 of these none remained to breed. P. nivea was, however, recorded by the sledge 

 parties on the Ice Barrier some seventy miles to the south of the open water. After 

 leaving Cape Adare and passing south, large flocks of Snowy Petrels flew about the 

 ship, alternating, but not mingling with, flocks of Thalassoeca antarctica. The appear- 

 ance of the two species was singularly different, the former flying independently, with 

 their white forms glistening against the blue sky, whilst the latter flew in unison, 

 wheeling and turning like Starlings. Whilst following in the wake of the ship, many 

 birds were captured by hanging lengths of strong thread to the halyards, which, 

 becoming entangled in their wings, made them an easy prey. 



The Snowy Petrel has been known to range as far north as the Falkland Islands, 

 whence specimens, now in the British Museum, were obtained by the first 

 Antarctic Expedition, and also by Macgillivray during the voyage of the 

 " Rattlesnake " in 1850. Mr. Eagle Clarke (Ibis, 1907, p. 336) gives the extreme 

 southern limit of P. nivea, observed by the Scottish Antarctic Expedition, as from 

 Lat. 59° 44' to 74° 1' S., off Coats Land, the ultima thule of the voyage ; it was 

 abundant in summer on the South Orkney Islands, and by far the most numerous 

 of the few species which remained there during the winter. When in flocks around the 

 ship, which it often followed all day long, it was seen to capture fish, at, or near, the 

 surface of the water. Mr. Eagle Clarke states that during the summer some 20,000 

 Snowy Petrels were observed in Laurie Island alone, frequenting the precipitous sea 

 cliffs, which form their breeding haunts, while Mr. Bernacchi says that the birds nest 

 high up on the mountain sides of South Victoria Land. Dr. McCormick, of the 



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