264

Chiloé

1834 July

Actinia 987 The superior & exterior margin of animal is formed into eight blunt foliaceous expansions. These are thickly covered with "Hair brown" papillæ, which are shorter but [sketch] much numerous at the extremities. The flat surface which surrounds mouth nearly free from papillæ.— Mouth small, with internal longitudinal folds.— From the structure of animal, it is with difficulty that the papillæ can all be concealed, the depth of the animal being small in proportion to width.— Color of surface "Orpiment orange" with short irregular concentric lines of "deep reddish O" which on the superior edge are so frequent as to form the prevailing color.— Round mouth narrow rim of do colour.— A specimen being removed from the rocks, during the night moved its position & firmly attached itself to the glass.— Tidal rocks.—

Gasteropterus 996 Length of mantle 1.5 inch, breadth 1.1: far surpassing its foot, edge sinuous: inferior antennæ connected for ¾ of length by a membrane forming a larger angle with each other than the superior ones, which are slightly winged.— General color straw-yellow, branchiæ & viscera of rather a darker tint.— Roots of Kelp.—

Geotrupes (a) copied This insect is excessively abundant, boring deep holes beneath every heap of horse dung (& once I saw sheep's).— Curious instance of increase in number & change in habit. no large quadruped in Chiloe.— At the depth of 2 & 3 feet, balls of earth, lined with a darker kind (dung?), containing larvæ, are very commonly found in gardens

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(a) copied (when dung is not directly present) from what I can hear I have little doubt that no other beetle than the Geotrupes exists in numbers proportional to the balls.— I saw a man 10 or 12 in a few minutes.— When first found they are not quite so hard as at present.— The Larvæ of many had eaten their way out & had escaped.—

Vide Page 200 for a discussion on this subject:—

Febry 1836 3446 3504......3512 copied Hobart town, Van Diemens land. I carefully examined dung of the Herds: damper climate favourable to their increase as compared to New S Wales.— The Horses Cattle have now been introduced since 1803 (33 years) & I find Onthophagus (2 species) very abundant under Cow's dung; there is a third species.— Also 3 species of Aphodii; one of which was beneath horse dung: Thus we have 6 species found even during my short stay:— The dung of Kangaroos is in Pellets & there were no other large animals as in the case of Chiloe.— The subject is a curious one.—

265

Chiloé

1834 July

Ornithology 2127 Specimen (2127)1 is a curious bird; is called by some of the officers the Robin, to which when hopping about the woods it bears some resemblance.— This bird frequents the most gloomy & retired spots in the damp intricate forests; it utters a loud, singular, repeated whistle; Can be seen only with some difficulty: & then perhaps by standing still, it will come quite close, busily hopping close to the ground amidst the impervious mass of Canes & dead branches of trees.— It is called by the inhabitants Cheucau.— The gizzard is muscular, it contained fragments of stones, hard seeds, buds of plants & vegetable fibres, but I could see no part of any insect.— Mr Stokes has seen this bird near C. Tres Montes.—

2132 2133 The Emberiza (?) is very common in small flocks; the commonest bird in the island; by the manner in which it frequents the cleared land round the houses resembles the Sparrow: in the stomach much seed & sand.—

2134 The Trochilus (2134) is very numerous; perhaps the next most abundant bird to the foregoing Emberiza: This little bird looks very much out of character (a) amongst the gloomy dripping foliage & the endless storms of rain.— The commonest site, where these birds may be found, is on marshy open ground, where a Bromelia (?) (a plant bearing pine-apple sort of edible fruit with long toothed leaves) forms thickets.— It frequently hovers at the sides of these plants & then dashes into them near the ground, but whether it alights on the ground I never could

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(a) Cop Ornithology These forests wear from the climate a gloomy look: yet in many respects they have a more Tropical appearance than the latitude would lead one to expect.— The woods contain various sorts of trees: they are very thickly placed together: they are much covered with parasitical plants, many of them monocotylidenous.— An Arborescent grass jointed like bamboo, which intertwines the trees to the height of 30 feet is very abundant: the Ferns are singularly large.—

I no where saw the Beech tree which forms the whole forests of T. del Fuego.— the Winters bark in common to both countries.—

(a) I opened stomach of this species killed near Valparaiso, there were as much debris of insects as in a Certhia. besides Diptera I pretty clearly recognized remains & not so very small of ants.—

(b) This bird utters three very distinct & strange crys, one of which is called Chiduco & is a good sign; another Huitreu the bad sign; so called from a resemblance to the sounds — This bird is regarded with much superstition, & its noises serves for omens.— It is excessively tame & intruding to a person standing quite still: cocks its tail vertically like the Tapacolo of Valparaiso.— is a most comical bird.— Is said to build its nest in low bushes:—

C. Tres Montes Very abundant at C. tres Montes: opened a Male specimen, found seeds & parts of insects & vegetable fibres in stomach: The Barking bird is also very abundant here: habits exactly similar to Cheucau; but rather more shy.— Noise exactly like little dog yelping, & flies badly like the Turco of Valparaiso.—

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Chiloé

1834 July

Ornithology see.— There are at this time of year scarcely any flowers, & none whatever where the above plants grow.— I was well assured that these birds did not feed on honey.— on opening the stomach (or rather duodenum) by the help of a strong lens, in a yellow fluid I discovered small numerous fragments bits of the wings & legs of most minute Diptera, probably Tripulidæ.— It is evident the humming birds search these insects out, in their winter-quarters, amongst the thick foliage of the Bromelias.—

Besides the birds I have collected I know of the following birds:— the Condor, which seems uncommon: the Vultur aura: the Carrancha.— the Chimango, which follows in great numbers the plough, I suppose to pick up Larvæ.— Hawk (2014): Furnarius same as (1822):— Wren same as (1831): Icterus (1784), common: Scarlet-headed & black Woodpecker: all these same as at Port Famine: the birds generally being very similar in the two places.— We have also the noisy Pteree-Pteree: & the Barking bird.— The Scissor beak

Apple Tree In Chiloe the inhabitants have a mode of propagating trees so that in three years it is possible to have an orchard of large fruit-bearing trees.— At the lower part of every branch, there are small (2 or 3 1/10th of inch), conical, brown, wrinkled projecting points; these are roots, as may be seen where any mud has fallen on the tree.— A branch, as thick as a man's thigh is chosen, & is cut off just beneath a group of points; this

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Chiloé

1834 July

Apples is done in very early spring: the extremities of all the sub-branches being are lopped off, it is placed about 2 feet deep in the ground with a support.— the ensuing summer it throws out very long shoots, & sometimes bears a few apples (I saw one which had most unusually produced as many as 23): the 2d summer, the former shoot throws out others: in the third summer it bears a good deal of fruit & is (as I have seen) a small wooded tree.— Are the incipient roots present as trees in any part of England? or is this whole process owing to the extremely damp nature of the climate? it is a most valuable method, where applicable.— I have noticed that in the Apples, not above one in a hundred will have any seeds in its core.—

Medusa PL. 14 Fig. 1 About 10 miles off Valparaiso: the sea contained many angular Medusæ.— Body perfectly transparent, colourless.— rather hard, Length .4: Shape like a wedge, where the four corners of the head are "replaced" by four planes, (which form a vertex or point at the top).— Line (AB) is the edge of the wedge; two of the replacing planes are seen (drawn out of perspective), one side (the narrow side) of the wedge is scooped out & form a : when the animal is turned on its narrow side, a slit or opening is seen, extending from m to n, & more than half way deep in its body. At the very back part of this cavity, but separated from it, there is a semilunar, thin vessel, which