DAPTION CAPENSIS. 



engaged in placing little stones around with its bill, as if to form a more comfortable 

 nesting place (Ibis, 1900, p. 28). 



On Laurie Island the nests, composed of stones and earth, were placed on the 

 exposed ledges of cliffs from twenty to one hundred feet above the sea-level, some 

 were close together, but isolated nests were not uncommon. They were robbed of 

 the eggs on December 5th, and when visited again on December 12th, the birds were 

 still found sitting on their empty nests. According to observations made by the 

 naturalists of the Scottish Expedition, the period of incubation was about forty-two 

 days. The birds sat close for a month, then disappeared for ten days, and upon their 

 return proceeded to lay their single white egg, which is large for the size of the parent. 

 Those obtained in the South Orkney Islands are oval in form, measuring on an average 

 62.35 by 43.11 mm. (Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 1906, p. 175). Three specimens in the 

 British Museum, presented by Dr. W. S. Bruce, measure : axis, 2.25 by 1.7 inches ; 2.45 

 by 1.55 ; 2.66 by 1.75. 



Adult. General colour above black with a slaty gloss ; the head and mantle 

 entirely black, the feathers of the latter with concealed white base ; the scapulars, 

 back and central upper tail-coverts white, with conspicuous black spots at the ends of 

 the feathers ; tail-feathers white, with the terminal third black, forming a broad band : 

 lesser and marginal wing-coverts black, the median and inner greater coverts white, 

 with black spots at the ends like the scapulars ; bastard-wing and primary coverts 

 black ; primaries black with a large extent of white on the inner web ; the third primary 

 with a patch of white on the base of the outer web, increasing in extent towards the 

 innermost primaries, which are entirely white, excepting towards the ends of the quills, 

 which are black ; outer secondaries entirely white, the innermost white with a large 

 black spot at the ends, thus resembling the scapulars ; entire sides of face, ear-coverts, 

 and sides of neck, black like the head ; under-surf ace of body pure white, with the 

 chin black, the throat mottled with black-tipped feathers, as also the sides of the 

 chest ; under tail-coverts white, with a black spot at the ends ; under wing-coverts 

 white, with a broad black band round the edge of the wing ; lower primary-coverts 

 white, the outer ones black, with white bases ; some of the greater coverts, with black 

 spots at the ends ; axillaries white, many of them spotted with black at the tip ; 

 primary quills blackish below, with a conspicuous lining of white. 



An examination of the large series of Cape Fulmars in the collection of the 

 British Museum reveals the fact that, although the general colour and markings 

 are the same throughout all the birds, there are certain differences which are difficult 

 to explain. Some birds have the throat pure white, while with others it is black, 

 and between these two extremes there is every variation. 



Many examples have a white throat, thinly sprinkled with blackish spots, which 

 are larger in other individuals, until the black predominates, and the bases only of 

 the feathers are white. 



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