112 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



I walked slowly after my particular bird, sitting 

 down to rest when it sat down, and trying to keep 

 from laughing aloud at its frantic efforts to sur- 

 mount the least inequality in the ground. A 

 hundred yards were traversed before it came in 

 sight of another bird which seemed to be its mate, 

 resting upon an eggless bit of volcanic gravel. Be- 

 fore the birds met, mine sank exhaustedly upon the 

 ground, ostrich-fashion, and settled down for a 

 rest. I squatted about ten feet away and realized 

 for the first time the real beauty of these birds. 

 The great hooked beak is golden yellow and the 

 head and neck purest white; the entire body is 

 freckled with wavy grey, and the mighty wings 

 are dark brown. Over the eye the feathers beetle 

 outward in a most curious vizor-like fashion, and 

 the large, dark eyes give the bird a gentle, kindly 

 expression. Measurements taken later on showed 

 that these albatrosses averaged over three feet in 

 total length, and eight to nine feet in extent of 

 wing, while the weight was about ten pounds. 



As my particular albatross seemed settled for a 

 while, I called on another bird about twenty feet 

 away and gently pushed her off her egg. This I 

 took for science' sake, salving my conscience with 

 the certain knowledge that it would soon be re- 

 placed with another. It was a beautiful thing, as 

 indeed all eggs are, very broadly oval with blunt, 

 rounded ends, and measuring about three by four 

 and a half inches. It was white with a dense cap 

 of deep reddish brown at the larger end. This 

 color died out in a sparse speckling along the sides, 



