32 



ALBATROSSES 



ORDER TUBINARBS : TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS, 

 (Families Diomedeid^ and Procellariid^.) 

 FAMILY DIOMEDEIDiE : ALBATROSSES. 



KEY TO GENERA. 



I. Sides of lower mandible with deep longitudinal 

 groove ; tail long and graduated. 



Phoebetria, p. 33. 



I'. Sides of lower mandible without longitudinal 



groove ; tail short and rounded. 



2. A wide strip of bare skin from nasal tube to 



forehead . . . Thalassogeron, p. 33. 



2'. Hard plates of top and sides of bill meeting 



between nasal tubes and forehead. 



Diomedea, p. 32. 



GENUS DIOMEDEA. 



General Characters. — The horny plate on top of bill widened back of 

 nostrils and meeting the plate on side of bill ; wings very long ; tail short, 

 not reaching tip of folded wings ; size that of a large goose. 



Fig. 51. 



KEY TO SPECIES. 



1. Feet, bill, and most of plumage, dusky or blackish 

 I'.Feet and bill yellow, plumage mainly white in adult 



nigripes, p. 32. 

 albatrus, p. 32. 



81. Diomedea nigripes Aud. 



Fig. 52. 



Black-footed Albatkoss. 



Adults. — Face and chin whitish, top 

 of head and rest of upper parts blackish, 

 except for Avhitish tail coverts and base 

 of tail ; under parts sooty gray ; bill 

 dusky, feet black. Young: face with 

 less white, and upper tail coverts dusky. 

 Length : 28.50-36.00, wing 18.50-20.50, 

 bill 4.00-4.25. 



Distribution. — North Pacific, abun- 

 dant from southern California to Alaska. 



Mr. Loomis once saw an albatross at Monterey Bay when there 

 was a heavy sea on, but most of the birds keep out to sea, where 

 they are known to the fishermen as ' goonies.' 



82. Diomedea albatrus Pall. Short-tailed Albatross. 



Adults. — Mainly white, but head and neck washed with yellowish, tail 

 and most of wings dusky, primaries with yellow shafts ; bill and feet 

 yellowish. Young : plumage sooty brown, darker on head and neck ; 

 primary shafts yellowish. Length : 33-37, wing 22-23, bill 5.50-5.60. 



Distribution. — North Pacific from southern California to Alaska, but 

 mainly northward. 



The large white albatross, unlike the black-footed, is so shy that 



