BIRDS. 



I 39 



like a grebe and flying in a straight line by the rapid movement of its short wings 

 like an auk, would be willing to believe that it was a member of the family 

 of petrels ; — the greater number of which are eminently pelagic in their habits, 

 do not dive, and whose flight is usually most graceful and continuous. I 

 observed at Port Famine, that these birds, in the evening, sometimes flew in 

 straight -lines from one part of the sound to another; but during the day, 

 they scarcely ever, I believe, take wing, if undisturbed. They are not very wild: 

 if they had been so, from their habit of diving and flying, it would have been 

 extremely difficult to have procured a specimen. The legs of this bird are of a 

 " flax-flower blue." 



2. Pelecanoides Garnotii. G. R. Gray. 



Puffinuria Garnotii, Less. Voy. de l'Coqu. pi. 46. 

 Procellaria urinatrix, Gm. ? 



My specimen was obtained at Iquique (lat. 20° 12'), on the coast of Peru. 

 M. Lesson, who first described this species, says (Manuel d'Ornithologie, vol. ii. 

 p. 394.), " l^epuffinure de Garnot habite par grandes troupes le long des cotes dn 

 Perou. II vole mediocrement bien, d'une maniere precipitee et en rasant la 

 mer ; mais il prefere se tenir en repos sur la surface des eaux, et plonge tres 

 frequemment a la maniere des grebes, sans doute pour saisir les petits poissons 

 qui forment sa pature." An anatomical description of this bird is there given. 



1. Procellaria gigantea. Gmel. 

 This bird, which is called by the English, " Nelly," and by the Spaniards, 

 " Quebranta-huesos," (properly an osprey,) is common in the southern latitudes of 

 South America. It frequents both the inland sounds, and the open ocean far 

 from the coast. It often settles and rests on the water. The Nelly, in its flight 

 and general appearance on the wing, has many points of resemblance with the 

 Albatross ; but, as in the case of that bird, it is in vain to attempt observing on 

 what it feeds ; both seem to hunt the waters for days together, in sweeping 

 circles, with no success. In the stomach, however, of one which I opened, there 

 was the beak of a large cuttle-fish. The Nelly, moreover, is a bird of prey : it was 

 observed at Port St. Antonio, by some of the officers of the Beagle, to kill a diver. 

 The latter tried to escape, both by diving and flying, but was continually struck 

 down, and at last was killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian, also, 

 these great petrels were seen killing and devouring young gulls. The Nelly breeds 

 on several of the small islands off the coast of Patagonia ; for instance, Sea-Lion 

 Island, in the mouth of the Santa Cruz. Most other species of the family retire 

 for the purpose of breeding to the Antarctic Islands. 



