338 WEB-FOOTED BIRDS. 



Its food and the place and manner of propagation are un- 

 known, though probably very similar with the preceding. 



The length of this species is about lOs^ inches. The colors exactly 

 as in the preceding. The tarsus and toes of a reddish-brown, 

 the webs yellow ; the outer toe fringed with black. Iris blackish- 

 brown. 



ALBATROSS. (Diomedea, Lin.) 



In these largest of marine birds the bill is longer than the head, 

 very robust, hard, and cutting at the edges, compressed, straight, and 

 suddenly curved at the point ; upper mandible deeply seamed on 

 each side, strongly hooked at tip ; lower mandible smooth, its end 

 distinct, compressed and truncated at tip. Nostrils in the furrow, 

 distant from the base, separate, covered on the sides, open before ; 

 tubes very short, partly conical, wider before than behind, lying on 

 the sides of the bill. Tongue very short, fleshy, and truncated at 

 the extremity. Feet short, robust : tarsus one fourth shorter than 

 the middle toe ; webs full and entire : no rudiment of a hind toe nor 

 nail : nails short and obtuse. Wings very long and narrow ; quills 

 short : the secondaries scarcely extending beyond their coverts. 

 Tail rounded, of 14 feathers. 



The sexes alike in plumage ; but the young differ much from the 

 adult. They moult twice a year without changing their colors. 



The Albatross like the Shear-water ventures out far to sea, flying 

 generally low or skimming the surface of the waves, but in stormy 

 weather they soar into the higher regions of the atmosphere, in 

 which they probably enjoy a calm, while the fury of the blast is ex- 

 pending itself below. Though of such bulk and strength they are 

 generally cowardly, giving way to the attacks of smaller and more 

 predaceous birds by seeking shelter on the bosom of the sea ; indeed 

 they are constantly harassed and attacked by small parties of Gulls. 

 They are extremely gluttonous and voracious ; feed on fish, particu- 

 larly those which make such prodigious leaps out of the water as to 

 appear flying, also, on molluscous and gelatinous animals ; gorging 

 themselves sometimes to such a degree as to be unable to move, 



