A MAIL FOR THE ISLANDERS 65 



yellow-nosed albatros* was by far the commonest 

 of the three species seen here. This bird somewhat 

 resembles a very large black-backed gull, the head, 

 however, is washed with smoky-grey, and a bright 

 yellowish-orange streak extends along the whole 

 length of the bill. The great albatrosf was in 

 smaller numbers, and most of them left the vicinity 

 of the ship when within a few miles of the island. 

 Every now and then a sooty albatros, J easily 

 recognisable by its sooty-brown colour, was 

 observed. 



The people on shore soon sighted the ship, 

 and, when we were within a mile of the settlement, 

 two boats put out, and a few minutes later the 

 islanders scrambled aboard. 



Lord Crawford had brought a mail from England, 

 and some time was spent in sorting the various 

 letters and packages. By the time this was 

 finished it was too late to go on shore that day, 

 and all we could do was to spend an hour in a 

 boat between the ship and the island. 



I had a talk with several of the islanders about 

 the birds, and especially the three species of land- 

 birds, which have been described from Tristan 

 da Cunha. I succeeded in getting a certain 

 amount of information, but how much of it was 

 correct I cannot say. 



I was told that there is now only one land-bird. 

 This is a thrush called Nesochicla eremita^ which 



* Dipmedea chlororhyncha. f D. exulans. X D. Juliginosa. 



