My specimen was obtained at Iquique (lat. 20° 12′), on the coast of Peru. M. Lesson, who first described this species, says (Manuel d’Ornithologie, vol. ii. p. 394.), “Le puffinure de Garnot habite par grandes troupes le long des côtes du Pérou. Il vole médiocrement bien, d’une manière précipitée et en rasant la mer; mais il préfère se tenir en repos sur la surface des eaux, et plonge très frequemment à la manière des grèbes, sans doute pour saisir les petits poissons qui forment sa pâture.” An anatomical description of this bird is there given.
1. Procellaria gigantea. Gmel.
This bird, which is called by the English, “Nelly,” and by the Spaniards, “Quebranta-huesos,” (properly an osprey,) is common in the southern latitudes of South America. It frequents both the inland sounds, and the open ocean far from the coast. It often settles and rests on the water. The Nelly, in its flight and general appearance on the wing, has many points of resemblance with the Albatross; but, as in the case of that bird, it is in vain to attempt observing on what it feeds; both seem to hunt the waters for days together, in sweeping circles, with no success. In the stomach, however, of one which I opened, there was the beak of a large cuttle-fish. The Nelly, moreover, is a bird of prey: it was observed at Port St. Antonio, by some of the officers of the Beagle, to kill a diver. The latter tried to escape, both by diving and flying, but was continually struck down, and at last was killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian, also, these great petrels were seen killing and devouring young gulls. The Nelly breeds on several of the small islands off the coast of Patagonia; for instance, Sea-Lion Island, in the mouth of the Santa Cruz. Most other species of the family retire for the purpose of breeding to the Antarctic Islands.
I have often observed in the southern seas, a bird similar in every respect to the Nelly, excepting in its plumage, being of a much more intense black, and its bill rather whiter. I procured a specimen thus coloured, at Port Famine, and had concluded that it was a distinct species, until Mr. Low, (an excellent practical observer, long acquainted during his sealing voyages with the productions of these seas,) assured me that he positively knew, that these black varieties were the one-year-old birds of the common greyish black Nelly.
2. Procellaria glacialoïdes. A. Smith.
Procellaria glacialoïdes, A. Smith, Illust. of Zool. of S. Africa, Aves, pl. 51.
I saw this petrel on both sides of the Continent south of lat. 30°; but seldom more than two or three together. I am informed that it arrives in Georgia in September for the purpose of breeding, and that it lays its eggs in holes in the precipices overhanging the sea. On the approach of winter it is said to retire from that island. My specimen was caught in the Bay of St. Mathias (lat. 43° S.) by a line and bent pin, baited with a small piece of pork; the same means by which the Pintado (Dapt. Capensis)is so easily caught. It is a tame, sociable, and silent bird; and often settles on the water: when thus resting it might from a distance be mistaken, owing to the general colour of its plumage, for a gull. One or two often approached close to the stern of the Beagle, and mingled with the Pintados, the constant attendants on vessels traversing these southern seas.
Daption Capensis. Steph.
Procellaria Capensis, Linn. Syst. i. 213.
This petrel is extremely numerous over the whole southern ocean, south of the Tropic of Capricorn. On the coast, however, of Peru, I saw them in lat. from 16° to 17° S., which is considerably farther north than they are found on the shores of Brazil. Cook, in sailing south in the meridian of New Zealand, first met this bird in lat. 43° 30′. The Pintados slightly differ in some of their habits from the rest of their congeners, but, perhaps, approach in this respect nearest to P. glacialoïdes. They are very tame and sociable, and follow vessels navigating these seas for many days together: when the ship is becalmed, or is moving slowly, they often alight on the surface of the water, and in doing this they expand their tails like a fan. I think they always take their food, when thus swimming. When offal is thrown overboard, they frequently dive to the depth of a foot or two. They are very apt to quarrel over their food, and they then utter many harsh but not loud cries. Their flight is not rapid, but extremely elegant; and as these prettily mottled birds skim the surface of the water in graceful curves, constantly following the vessel as she drives onward in her course, they afford a spectacle which is beheld by every one with interest. Although often spending the whole day on the wing, yet on a fine moonlight night, I have repeatedly seen these birds following the wake of the vessel, with their usual graceful evolutions. I am informed that the Pintado arrives in Georgia for the purpose of breeding, and leaves it, at the same time with the P. glacialoïdes. The sealers do not know any other island in the Antarctic ocean excepting Georgia, where these two birds (as well as the Thalassidroma oceanica) resort to breed.