DIOMEDEID^ — THE ALBATROSSES — DIOMEDEA. 347 



Diomedea exulans. 



THE WANDERING ALBATKOSS. 



Diomedea exulans, LiNN. S. N. ed. 10, I. 1758, 132; ed. 12, I. 1766, 214. — Nutt. Man. W. P>. 



1834, 340. —Gould, B. Austr. VII. 1848, pi. 38. — Lawii. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 821. 



— Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 630. — Coues, Pr. Pliilad. Acad. 1866, 175. — Kidder, Bull. 



IT. S. Nat. Mus. no. 2, 1875, 19 ; no. 3, 1876, 11. — ScL. Rep. "Challenger," Zool. II. 1881, 147. 

 Diomedea spadicea, GMel. S. N. I. ii. 1788, 568 (= young). 

 ? Diomedea adusta, TscHUDi, J. f. 0. 1856, 157, no. 7. 



Hab. Southern oceans in general, but occasionally wandering north of the equator. Near 

 Dieppe, France, and near Antwerp, Belgium, September, 1833 (BoiE, " Isis," 1835, p. 259) ; three 

 specimens near Chauniont, France, November, 1758 (Degl. & Gerbe, " Orn. Eur." 2d ed. 1867, 

 p. 368) ; ? coast of Norway, one specimen (Brunn. "Orn. Bor." 1764, p. 31). "Rare and acci- 

 tlental in the Middle States " (Boxaparte) ; " Accidental to the coasts of the central part of the 

 Union " (Nuttall). Tampa Bay, Florida ? ^ 



Sp. Char. Adult : Prevailing color yellowish white, the remiges dusky, and, except in very 

 old birds, the larger wing-coverts and dorsal region more or less barred irregularly with blackish. 

 Bill white (Kidder), or "delicate pinky white, inclining to yellow at the tip" (Gould) ; iris 

 " verydai'k blue to purple " (Kidder), or "very dark brown" (Gould) ; feet "white, with a pale- 

 blue tint " (Kidder), or " pinky white " (Gould) ; " eyelash bare, fleshy, and of a pale green " 

 (Gould). Yoiaig: Prevailing color dark fuliginous or blackish brown, older individuals vaiied 

 with white according to age, the fore-part of the head and lining of the wings always more or less 

 white. Bill "pinkish white" (Kidder). 



Total length, 47.00-55.00 inches ; extent, about 10-12 feet (average, 10 feet I inch, fide 

 Gould) ; average weight, 17 lbs., maximum weight about 20 lbs. 



The Wandering Albatross of the Southern Pacific and Atlantic oceans has probably 

 but little claim to a place in the fauna of jSTorth America. I am unable to find any 

 well-authenticated instance where this bird is known to have been taken in the 

 vicinity eitlier of the Atlantic or of the Pacific coast of the United States. Numerous 

 specimens were collected in the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, both from the Atlantic 

 and the Pacific oceans ; and from the numerous and careful records of Dr. Pickering 

 it is evidently both the most numerous and the most widely diffused of its family. 

 It was first met wdth in the Atlantic January 22, in lat. 40° S., on the passage from 

 Eio de Janeiro to the Kio Negro, occasionally afterward to Cape Horn, and as far 

 south as the cruise extended. It seemed much more common in the Pacific, espe- 

 cially on the passage to Callao. On the 4th of April, in lat. 42° S., numbers of these 

 birds were taken with hooks and lines, their abundance being in all probability due 

 to the fact that the ship was then passing over whaling-ground. 



Mr. E. L. Layard mentions meeting with them in great numbers in the Antarctic 

 Ocean, lat. 44° S. ; they were chiefly young birds. This species is given by Mr. 

 G. R. Gray as one of those occurring in NeAV Zealand. 



Captain F. W. Hutton (" Ibis," 1865) states that the food of this Albatross consists 

 entirely of the oceanic mollusca, small crustaceans, medusje, and the refuse thrown 

 overboard from ships. No remains of fish were found in its stomach. It alw^ays 

 settles down slowly to eat, and can only be caught with the hook when the vessel is 



^ I have recently been informed, on what I consider reliable authority, of the capture of a specimen of 

 this species in Tampa Bay, Florida, my informant liaving the head in his possession. Up to this writing, 

 however, he has been unable to get the specimen from a box which had been placed in storage during his 

 absence from the city. — R. R. 



