they are all of the fame fpecies. It was not at all dangerous
to go among them ; for they either fled or lay ftill.
The only danger was in going between them and the fea ;
for if they took fright at any thing, they would come down
in fuch numbers that, if you could not get out of their
way, you would be run over. Sometimes, when we came
fuddenly upon them, or waked them out of their fleep (for
they are a fluggilh fleepy animal), they would raife up their
heads, fnort and fnarl, and look as fierce as if they meant to
devour us; but as we advanced upon them* they always run
away ; fo that they are downright bullies.
The penguin is an amphibious bird fo well known to
moft people, that I fliall only obferve, they are here in pro- -
digious numbers; fo that we could knock down as many as
we pleafed with a flick. I cannot fay they are good eating.
I have indeed made feveral good meals of them; but it was
for want of better vidtuals. They either do not breed here;
or elfe this was not the feafon; for we faw neither eggs nor
young ones.
Shags breed here in vaft numbers; and we carried on board
not a few, as they are very good eating. They take certain
fpots to themfelves, and build their nefts near the edge of
the clifFs on little hillocks, which are either thofe of the
fword-grafs, or elfe they are made by the fhags building on
them from year to year. There is another fort rather
fmaller than thefe, which breed in the clifFs of rocks.
The geefe are of the fame fort we found in Chriflmas
Sound ; we faw but few ; and fome had young ones. Mr.
Forfter fhot one which was different from thefe, beinglarger,
with a grey plumage, and black feet. The others make a
noife
noife exactly like a duck. Here were ducks, but not many; J g *
and feveral of that fort,which we called race-horfes. We -v— ■
fhot fome, and found them to weigh twenty-nine or
thirty pounds; thofe who eat of them faid they were very
gopd.
The oceanic birds were gulls, tern, Port Egmont hens,
and a large brown bird, of the fize of an albatrofs, which
Pernety calls quebrantahueflas. We called them Mother
Cary’s geefe, and found them pretty good eating. The land
birds were eagles, or hawks, bald-headed vultures, or what
our feamen called turkey buzzards, thrufhes, and a few other
fmall birds.
Our naturalifts found two new fpecies of birds. The one
is about the fize of a pigeon, the plumage as white as milk.
They feed along fhore, probably on fhell-fifh and carrion ;
for they have a very difagreeable fmell. When we firft faw
thefe birds, we thought they were the fnow peterel, but the
moment they were in our pofleflibn, the miftake was difco-
vered ; for they refemble them in nothing but fize and colour.
Thefe are not web-footed. The other fort is a fpecies
of curlews nearly as big as a heron. It has a variegated
plumage, the principal colours whereof are light-grey, and
a long crooked bill.
I had almoft forgot to mention that there are fea-pies, or
what we called, when in New Zealand, curlews ; but we
only faw a few ftraggling pairs. It may not be amifs to obferve,
that the fhags are the fame bird which Bougainville .
calls faw-bills; but he is miftaken in-faying that the quebrantahueflas
are their enemies ; for this bird is of the peterel
tribe, feeds wholly on fifli, and is to be found in all the-
high fouthern latitudes«
Dp