had altogether disappeared, although they had been abundant as far to the southward as 41 degrees South.  The most widely dispersed were Daption capensis—­the pintado or Cape-pigeon of voyagers—­Procellaria hasitata, P. coerulea, P. lessonii, and P. gigantea, of which the first and second were the most numerous and readily took a bait towing astern.  It is probable that all these species make the circuit of the globe, as they are equally distributed over the South Indian Ocean.  Some interesting additions were made to the collection of Procellariadae (commenced near the equator with Thalassidroma leachii) and before leaving the Falklands I had captured and prepared specimens of twenty-two species of this highly interesting family, many members of which until the publication of Mr. Gould’s memoir* were either unknown or involved in obscurity and confusion.  Among these is one which merits special notice here, a small blue petrel, closely resembling P. coerulea, from which it may readily be distinguished by wanting the white tips to the central tailfeathers.  It turns out to be the P. desolata, known only by a drawing in the British Museum made more than half a century ago, from which this species was characterised.  When in latitude 50 degrees 46 minutes South and longitude 97 degrees 47 minutes West I saw P. antarctica for the first time; one or two individuals were in daily attendance while rounding Cape Horn and followed the ship until we sighted the Falkland Islands.  I had long been looking out for P. glacialoides, which in due time made its appearance—­a beautiful light grey petrel, larger than a pigeon; it continued with us between the latitudes of 40 and 58 degrees South and occasionally pecked at a baited hook towing astern.

(Footnote.  Magazine and Annals of Natural History for 1844 page 360.)

One may naturally wonder what these petrels can procure for food in the ocean to the southward of 35 degrees south latitude, where they are perhaps more numerous than elsewhere, and where the voyager never sees any surface-swimming fishes which they might pick up?  It is, of course, well known that they eagerly pounce upon any scraps of animal matter in the wake of a vessel, hence it is reasonable to suppose that they follow ships for the purpose of picking up the offal, but they may also be seen similarly following in the wake of whales and droves of the larger porpoises.  Almost invariably I have found in the stomach of the many kinds of albatrosses, petrels, and shearwaters, which I have examined, the undigested horny mandibles of cuttlefish, which would thus appear to constitute their principal food; and, as all the petrel family are to a certain extent nocturnal, it seems probable that the small cuttlefish on which they feed approach the surface only at night.

July 8th.