A'EsrS AXD KGGS 01' AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 53; 



Ohservations. — Gould obsci-ved the Flat-billed or Grey-headed Alba- 

 tross (culminatuf) to be more plentiful in the Austi\ilian seas than else- 

 where. Numbere came under his notice during his voyage from Laun- 

 ceston to Adelaide, particularly off Capes Jervis and Northumberland. 

 It is a powerful bird, and dLfectly intermediate in size between the White- 

 capped Albatross ( D. niutiix ) and the Yellow-nosed (T. rhlororlnjiirhiix). 

 The specific differences of the three kinds were so marked, that he had 

 no difficulty, apparently, in distinguishing, them, even while on the wing. 

 But of com^se Gould was an expert. 



Sir James Hector informed me that diu-ing a trip southwai-d in 

 February , 1893, he believed he saw the Flat-billed Albatrosses nesting 

 in groups among the Black-browed variety on, the great cliffs at Campbell 

 Island. 



In the pages of the " Ornithologist and Oologist," Mr. W. Otto 

 Emerson, CaUfornia, gives liis description of an egg of the T. culmiiKiUm 

 from an example collected 12th Januaiy, 1880, by Captain Thomas 

 Lynch, at Diegos, Kavenen's Rocks, S. and E., fifty-two miles from Cape 

 Horn. The e^g was accompanied with the following interesting notes 

 by Dr. J. W. Detmiller : — " The nests ai'e veiy nicely and solidly built, 

 lasting two or three seasons, even in that fearful, climate. They are 

 built veiT closely together, and are probably often mistaken by one and 

 another of the birds, after the fashion of many sea birds. The nests 

 are high, to enable the long-winged creatures to rise easily on the wing, 

 which they cannot do on a level. The birds are veiy tame, allowing 

 themselves to be handled while sitting." 



696. — Thalassogeron chlorukhynchus, Gmelin. — (C21) 

 YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii., pi. 42. 

 Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxv., p. 451. 



Geoyrdpliiral ,Di<trihution. — Seas of New South Wales, Victoria, 

 South and West Australia and Tasmania ; also New Zealand and the 

 Southern Ocean in general. 



Xat. — Similar to those of the other members of the genus. 



Et/i/.s-. — Clutch, one ; colour, dull-white, with single yellowish blotches, 

 probably resulting from dirt. Dimensions in inches : 4-0 x 2-28 

 (Kutter). 



Observations. — The Yellow-nosed Albatross, like most of its .great- 

 winged congeners, sweeps the seas of the Southern Ocean. This species 

 came under Gould's observation for the first time ^n tlie 24th July, 

 1838, in latitude 30 deg. 38 min. S. and longitude 20 deg. 43 min. W., 

 from which point until he reached Australia scarcely a day passed, without 

 the ship being visited by these birds, sometimes in considerable numbers. 



