ORNITHOLOGY IN 1851. 
dition, particularly to the Pacific, Government could not select a 
better workman.* 
Thalassidroma leacMi was met with, distributed between the 
Tropic of Cancer and latitude 5° 8', a considerable extension of its 
known range.f Another of the petrels, the “ Mutton Bird,” Puffi - 
nus brevicaudus , was met with in great abundance at a breeding 
station, Goose Island. “ A person walking across the island can 
scarcely avoid frequently stumbling among these burrows, from the 
earth giving way under his feet. About dark clouds of mutton 
birds came in from the sea, and we amused ourselves chasing them 
over the ground among their burrows ; and as many specimens as 
I required, were speedily provided, by knocking them down with a 
stick.” Larus pacijicus and Xema jamesonii were also exceedingly 
plentiful. 
On No. IV. of the Frankland Islands, Columba antartica was 
met with, extending the range of that species beyond the continent, 
and to 380 miles within the tropics. 
At the Duchateau Isles, birds were plentiful — Megcipodii and 
Pigeons. The notice of the Nicobar Pigeon is interesting. “ As 
its appearance exhibits a near approach to the Gallinaceous Birds, 
so do its habits. It lives chiefly on the ground, runs with great 
swiftness, and flies up into a tree when disturbed. A nest here was 
of the rude platform construction, usually found among the pigeon 
family. It was built upon a tree, about ten feet from the ground, 
and contained a single white egg. 
The following notice of the habits of Chlamydera cerviniventris , 
Gould, is perhaps the first. “ While watching in the scrub I caught 
several glimpses of the Tewinga , the native name, as it darted 
through the bushes in the neighbourhood of the bower, announcing 
its presence by an occasional loud chur-r-r, and imitating the notes 
of various other birds, especially the Leather-head. I never before 
met with a more wary bird, and for a long time it enticed me to 
follow it to a short distance, then flying off and alighting on the 
bower, it would deposit a berry or two, run through, and be off again 
before I could reach the spot. All this time it was impossible to 
get a shot. At length, just as my patience was becoming exhausted, 
* Mr. Macgillivray has been appointed to the new expedition, 
t See Observations on Geographical Distribution of the Procellaria. “ Contri- 
butions,” 1850, p. 04. 
