Cockayne. — Botanical Excursioii to Southern Islands. 299 



The nests are built out of peat mixed with short pieces of 

 grass. On Bounty Island, where there is neither soil nor grass, 

 guano and the old quill-feathers of the penguin are made use 

 of. They are quite hard and solid, about 60 cm. in diameter, 

 25 cm tall, and the upper surface is very slightly hollowed. 

 On this the albatros lays her one large egg, hatches it out, and 

 the young bird remains on the nest for many months, finally, 

 when fully fledged, walking about just in the neighbour- 

 hood of the nest until the following season, when the old bird 

 returns to lay another egg. Then the young bird makes its 

 way to the sea, and first of all takes to the water in this 

 manner. I saw young albatroses both on Antipodes and 

 Campbell Island in July ; they were still covered with lovely 

 white down, through which the quill-feathers of the wing were 

 plainly visible when the wind ruffled the down. Bound about 

 such nests all the vegetation is finally destroyed for some dis- 

 tance, and it is a most common sight to see old nests 

 surrounded by a ring of quite bare ground, while in other 

 cases a new vegetation has arisen. I took a few notes in 

 order to see what plants under these natural conditions 

 repopulated the ground — as opposed to vegetation being de- 

 stroyed by introduced animals. 



Such old nests may be 39 cm. in diameter and 23 cm. tall, 

 the upper surface, where the young bird has been for many 

 mouths seated, slightly hollowed. Growing in the centre of 

 the nest is Stellaria decipiens minor, with small plants of 

 Luzula crinita growing through it. Climbing over the nest 

 and extending into the hollow portion is Acmna, which also 

 occupies the formerly bare space round the nest where the 

 old bird has alighted and the young one takes exercise before 

 leavmg the nest for the ocean. Large tufts of Luzula grow on 

 the ground through the Acana, together with two small plants 

 of Senecio antipoda. On the ground, otherwise quite bare, are 

 Marchantia sp. and another liverwort. Surrounding the ring 

 of ground laid bare by the albatros are grass-tussock, Aspi- 

 dium, and Ligusticum. Another nest examined was bare in 

 its centre, but elsewhere were similar plants to those enu- 

 merated and one small plant of tussock-grass. A third bare 

 spot showed rather more tussock. So far as I remember, in 

 all the nests and bare spaces examined Ac(zna and Stellaria 

 were the first plants to make their appearance. 



The young aloatroses also must play a notable part in 

 the distribution of Accziia, and may be accountable for the 

 great abundance of this plant all over Antipodes Island. For 

 this idea I am indebted to Chapman's paper, in which, writ- 

 ing of the summit of Mount Galloway, it states, " There was 

 a good deal of flat ground up there which was literally alive 

 with albatroses. Young black birds were very common ; 



