Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.3)

354 CHONOS ARCHIPELAGO. Jan. 1835. should have been created. But it should always be recol- lected, that in some other country perhaps it is an essential member of society, or at some former period may have been so. If America south of 37° should be sunk beneath the waters of the ocean, the Synallaxis and Scytalopus might continue to exist in central Chile for a long period, but it is very improbable that their numbers would increase. We should then see a case, which must inevitably have happened with very many animals. These southern seas are frequented by several species of Petrels. The largest kind, Procellaria gigantea, or nelly, (quebrantahuesos, or break-bones, of the Spaniards) is a common bird, both in the inland channels and on the open sea. In its habits and manner of flight there is a very close resemblance with the albatross, and as with the latter bird, a person may watch it for hours together without see- ing on what it feeds, so is it with this petrel. The " break- bones" is, however, a rapacious bird,* for it was observed by some of the ofiicers at Port St. Antonio chasing a diver. The bird tried to escape both by diving and flying, but was con- tinually struck down, and at last killed by a blow on its head. At Port St. Julian, also, these great petrels were seen killing and devouring young gulls. A second species [Puffinus cinereusf), which is common to Europe, Cape Horn, and the coast of Peru, is of a much smaller size than the gigantea, but, like it, of a dirty black colour. It generally frequents the inland sounds in very large flocks : I do not think I ever saw so many birds of any other sort together, as I once saw of these behind the island of Chiloe. Hundreds of thousands flew in an irregular line, for several hours in one direction. When part of the flock settled on the water, the surface was blackened, and a noise proceeded from them, as of human beings talking in the dis- * The Spaniards who named it were probably aware of this, for " que- brantahuesos" means properly an osprey. f I am indebted to Mr. Gould for naming these birds, and for kindly furnishing me with much information respecting them.