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OCEANIC BIRD LIFE 



A flock of wandering albatrosses on the Galathea^s quarter-deck in the Tasnian Sea. They re- 

 sembled heavy, clumsy geese, and were unable to take off from the deck as the 'runway' was too short. 



There were exceptionally many wandering albatrosses round the Gala- 

 thea while she was fishing in the Tasman Sea, along the west and south- 

 east coasts of New Zealand. By means of a special device that was used 

 in the old sailing days we succeeded in catching a number of them. 

 The device consists of a triangular piece of metal with bait attached. 

 In calm weather and when travelling at slow speed, we paid out the 

 triangle on a long line with a piece of cork to keep it afloat. When the 

 albatrosses went for the bait the strongly curved tips of their bills would 

 get caught in the metal, and by holding the line tight it was possible to 

 haul the birds aboard. 



One day we had 22 of these wandering albatrosses walking about the 

 quarterdeck, to the great amusement of the whole ship. They were unable 

 to take off as they require a "runway" with a headwind, and there is 

 none on a quarter-deck. It was interesting to watch their greeting display 

 as they waddled about the deck. They would crane their necks, bill in air, 

 clacking with their bills as they did so. Some of the birds were ringed and 

 individually coloured on the wings, breast, or head for recognition pur- 

 poses, but we ne\'er saw any of our released birds again. 



Besides these large albatrosses, we saw fi\'e or six smaller species in con- 

 siderably smaller numbers round New Zealand, On our way to Campbell 



