196 Recently published Ornithological Works . 
a country which is described as a slightly rolling te tundra ” 
studded with lakes and ponds; and although the species are 
little more than fifty in number, several are worthy of 
special notice. Among the latter is one of the group of 
Great Northern Falcons, bearing the somewhat cumbrous 
name of Hierofalco gyrfalco sacer, Bidgw.; and the breed¬ 
ing-habits and nest of the Pectoral Sandpiper ( Tringa macu- 
lata ) are now fully described by the finder of the eggs, one of 
which has been figured in Mr. Seebohm's f British Birds ' 
(pi. 68), from a specimen lent by the Smithsonian Institu¬ 
tion. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper ( Tryngites rufescens ) 
was also abundant from the early part of June, depo¬ 
siting its eggs on the higher and drier parts of the tundra, 
and never in the lower marshy portions. The most 
abundant bird was the King Eider ( Somateria spectabilis ), 
flights of thousands passing still further northwards from 
the latter part of April, comparatively few remaining to 
breed in the vicinity of the settlement; and on the return- 
migration in autumn the numbers were not nearly so great. 
Most interesting of all, however, is the description of Boss's 
Gull ( Rhodostethia rosea), with two coloured plates illus¬ 
trating two stages of plumage in this once rare bird, far 
more specimens of which were obtained at Point Barrow 
than previously existed in all the museums and collections 
put together. None were obtained in spring; but in 
September and October large flights, consisting principally of 
birds of that same year, approached the shore from the south¬ 
west, travelling in a north-easterly direction. Nor were any 
seen to return; but the supposition is that they retrace their 
course, when out of sight of land, on meeting the pack-ice, 
on the edge of which they pass the winter ; and it is sug¬ 
gested that one of their breeding-grounds may be on some 
undiscovered land north of Wraugel Island. The captain 
of a whaler, considered to be a trustworthy witness, who re¬ 
ported having seen large numbers over loose ice north-west 
of Cape Hope (say in about 69° N. lat.) on June 10th, 
1883, was probably not far from some land where they would 
breed. With the return of the expedition the chance of 
