No. 401.] RESULTS OF THE POLAR EXPEDITION. 419 
The third section (III) gives the observations made during 
the aforesaid sledge journey, in the spring of 1895 to August 
1896. During the journey in the Polar Sea, the first bird 
seen (a Fulmarus glacialis) was observed on May 29, when the 
travelers had begun to approach the north side of Franz Josef 
Land. That part of the journey in which the highest latitude, 
86° 13.6', was reached was undertaken so early in the year that 
* no birds were yet visible." | 
The fourth section (IV) gives the observations made on the 
Fram after Nansen and Johansen had left in March, 1895, until 
the return of the ship in August, 1896. Great importance 
attaches to the ornithological records made during this part of 
the exploration. In the first place, * birds were observed in the 
highest northerly latitudes, in which birds on the whole have 
been known to exist," and farthest north of all was found F. 
glacialis, of which a specimen was observed in 85? 5' N. Lat. 
During this part of the cruise, the Fram being confined to a 
comparatively limited area northeast of Franz Josef Land, the 
total number of species observed was ten (10), namely, P/ectro- 
phenax nivalis, Sterna macrura, Pagophila eburnea, Rissa tri- 
dactyla, Rhodostethia rosea, a specimen of a Larus, which is 
stated to have been black-backed, a Stercorarius (species unde- 
termined), Fulmarus glacialis, Cepphus mandti, and Alle alle. 
* None of the species, however, seemed to occur in any great 
quantity.” | 
* The last summer, 1896, when the Fram was north of Spitz- 
bergen, the first bird (a snow bunting) was observed on April 
25. It now appeared that for a distance of at least four hundred 
kilometers north of Spitzbergen, or between 81? and 83? N. 
Lat. the Arctic Ocean is inhabited by an abundant bird life, 
doubtless consisting principally of young, not yet mature birds, 
. Which spend the summer months here, in and near the open 
channels in the ice." ‘Among the specimens occurring here, 
sometimes in great numbers, may be named Cepphus mandtt, 
Alle alle, and Pagophila eburnea. A few specimens of waders 
(4igialitis hiaticula and Crymophilus fulicarius) were also 
found in these northern latitudes, and a specimen of Xema 
sabini was observed." 
