THE ZOOLOGIST. 



THIRD SERIES. 



Vol.XV.] JULY, 1891. [No. J 75. 



THE BIRDS OF GREENLAND. 

 By John Cordeaux. 



In 1875, just previous to the sailing of the last Arctic 

 Expedition sent out by this country in the 'Alert* and 'Dis- 

 covery,' Prof. Newton, at the request of the Admiralty, drew up 

 his ' Notes on Birds which have been found in Greenland,' and 

 these were printed in the large text-book issued at the time for 

 the instruction of the Expedition. 



This list of Greenland birds is a most complete one, and was 

 compiled from every available source of information up to date, 

 but chiefly from the excellent list by Prof. Reinhardt, printed in 

 * The Ibis' of 1861. In writing it Prof. Newton exercised a wise 

 discretion in distinguishing between the accidental stragglers and 

 the true denizens of the country — that is, birds which either 

 breed there, or such as annually frequent it, in some part or 

 other, for a longer or shorter period ; and still further, to direct 

 attention to those more northerly districts specially to be explored 

 by the Expedition, the names of all such species as might 

 reasonably be expected to be found north of Melville Bay, in 

 Smith's Sound, and northward, were printed in a different type. 

 The total number of species included in this list is 125, and of 

 these no less than sixty-two must be considered nothing but 

 stragglers to Greenland, and sixty- three, at the very outside, 

 may be called residents ; of these latter sixteen, or nearly one- 

 fourth, are birds which do not occur within the Polar Circle, and 

 cannot be considered true Arctic species ; of the remaining forty- 



ZOOLOGIST.— JULY, 1891. U 



