The expedition to the Island of St. Paul to observe
the transit of Venus will bring back some interesting obser- vations for the naturalists. At least there appear to have been some very interesting observations made on a tribe of great birds, — so far like ducks that they are much more agile in the water than on land, but without wings half as efficient as ducks,—called the Sphemiscus, whose wings are rather fins than wings, and which climbs very laboriously from the sea to the plateau, 600 feet high, where villages of its nests are built, by the help of legs and beak and wings (or fins) all used in combination. The track up which the males return to the nests is, in fact, Worn by constant use into a sort of road, and the birds always keep to it in their ascent. The fishermen on the spot call this bird,—which shows no fear of man,—" the Magistrate," from its grave and weighty appearance. Clearly, this is another of the remarkable links between species of very different habits and instincts.
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