BIRDS. 
145 
Viralva aranea. G. R. Gray. 
Sterna aranea, Wils. Am. Orn. pi. 72. f. 6. 
My specimen was procured at Bahia Blanca, in Northern Patagonia. I may 
here observe, that many navigators have supposed that terns, when met with out 
at sea, are a sure indication of land. But these birds seem not unfrequently to be 
lost in the open ocean ; thus one ( Megalopterus stolidus) flew on board the Beagle 
in the Pacific, when several hundred miles from the Galapagos Archipelago. No 
doubt, the remark made by navigators, with respect to the proximity of land where 
terns are seen, refers to birds in a flock, fishing, or otherwise showing that they 
are familiar with that part of the sea. I, therefore, more particularly mention, 
that off* the mouth of the Rio Negro, on the Patagonian shore, I saw a flock 
(probably the Viralva aranea ) fishing seventy miles from land : and off the coast 
of Brazil a flock of another species, 1*20 from the nearest part of the coast. The 
latter birds were in numbers, and were busily engaged in dashing at their 
prey. 
Megalopterus stolidus. Boie. 
Sterna stolida, Linn. Syst. i. 227. 
My specimens were procured from the Galapagos Archipelago. It is well 
known to be an inhabitant of the seas in the warmer latitudes over the whole 
world. The Rocks of St. Paul’s, nearly under the equator, in the Atlantic ocean, 
were almost covered with the rude and simple nests of this bird, made with a few 
pieces of sea-weed. The females were sitting upon their eggs (in February), and 
by the side of many of their nests, parts of flying-fish were placed, I suppose, by 
the male bird for his partner to feed on during the labour of incubation. 
Phalacrocorax carunculatus. Stephens. 
Phalacrocorax carunculatus, Steph. Gen. Zool. 
Pelecanus carunculatus, Gm. Syst. i. 576. 
Phalacrocorax imperialis, King , Zool. Proc. vol. i. pt. 1. 30. 
I procured a specimen of this bird at Port St. Julian, on the coast of 
Patagonia, where, during January, many were building. I merely mention it 
here, for the purpose of describing the singularly bright colours of the naked skin 
about its head. Skin round the eyes “ campanula blue cockles at the base of 
the upper mandible, “saffron mixed with gamboge-yellow.” Marks between the 
eye and the corner of the mouth, “ orpiment orange tarsi scarlet. 
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