DIOMEDEID.E — THE ALBATROSSES — DIOMEDEA. 



355 



Diomedea nigripes. 



THE BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS. 



Diomedea nigripes, Aud. Orn. Biog. V. 1839, 327; B. Am. VII. 1842, 198. —Cass. Illustr. B. Cal. 



Tex. etc. 1853, 210, pi. 35. — CoUEs, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad. 1866, 178; Key, 1872, 326; 

 Check List, 1873, no. 579 ; ed. 2, 1882. no. 811. — Ridgw. Noni. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 700. 

 Diomedea brachyura (supposed young), Cass. Illustr. B. Cal. Tex. etc. 1858, 291. — Lawe. in 



Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 822. 



Hab. North Pacific Ocean, including the west coast of North America. 



Sp. Char. Adult: Above, brownish dusky, the scapulars indistinctly margined terminally 

 •with paler ; primaries nearly black, their shafts clear straw-yellow ; upper tail-coverts and con- 

 cealed base of tlie tail white. Anterior portion of the head and auricular region dirty whitish, 

 shading gradually into brownish gray, except behind the eyes, where very abruptly defined against 



Adult. 



the blackish dusky of the sides of the occiput ; lower parts fuliginous-gray, deepest on the neck, 

 sides, and flanks, fading gradually into white on the crissum and middle portion of the abdomen. 

 Bill dusky jjurplish brown ; legs and feet black.'' Young : Similar, but head darker, showing 

 whitish only against the base of the bill, the lower parts entirely uniform smoky gray (darker than 

 in the adult), the upper tail-coverts dusky, like the rump. 



Total length, 28.50-32.50 inches ; extent, 79.50 ; wing, 18.50-21.50 ; culmen, 3.75-4.31 ; depth 

 of bill at base, 1.45-1.60 ; tarsus, 3.50-3.70 ; middle toe, 4.05-4.40. 



This species was first described by Audubon from a specimen obtained by Mr. 

 Townsend, Dec. 25, 1834, on the Pacific Ocean, in latitude 50°. Nothing was then 

 known in regard to its habits, and it was supposed by Mr. Cassin to be an immature 



1 " Iris umber ; tarsus, foot, base and tip of hill, black ; remainder of bill plumbeous ;" of another 

 specimen, " iris umber or golden brown " (Bean, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. Vol. 5. pp. 169, 170). 



