TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS 



TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. Order III. TUBINARES. 

 ALBATROSSES. Family DIOMEDEIDAE 



Albatrosses are the largest of the sea birds and have an enormous expanse 

 of wing, the Wandering Albatross, the largest of the family, sometimes attain- 

 ing an expanse of fourteen feet. Their nostrils consist of two slightly project- 

 ing tubes, one on each side near the base of the bill. They are unsurpassed 

 in powers of flight, but are only fair swimmers and rarely, if ever, dive, getting 

 their food, which consists of dead animal matter, from the surface of the water. 



81. Black-footed Albatross. Diomedea 



nigripes. 



Range. — North Pacific from California north- 

 ward. This Albatross is thirty-two inches in 

 length; it is of a uniform sooty brown color shad- 

 ing into whitish at the base of the bill, which is 

 rounded. Like the other members of the family, 

 this species is noted for its extended flights, fol- 

 lowing vessels day after day without any apparent 

 period of rest, for the purpose of feeding on the 

 refuse that is thrown overboard. They breed 

 during our winter on some of the small isolated 

 islands in the extreme southern portions of the 

 globe. They lay a single white egg on the bare 

 ground. 



82. Short-tailed Albatross. Dio^nedea 



albatriis. 

 Range. — North Pacific Ocean in summer, from 

 Lower California to Alaska. With the exception 

 of the Wandering Albatross, which is now regard- 

 ed as doubtful as occurring off our coasts, the 

 Short-tailed Albatross is one of the largest of 

 the group, measuring thirty-six inches in length, 

 and has an extent of seven feet or more. With 

 the exception of the black primaries, shoulders 

 and tail, the entire plumage is white, tinged with 

 straw color on the back of the head. They breed 

 on the guano islands in the North Pacific off the 

 coasts of Alaska and Japan. They lay a single 

 white egg on the bare ground or rocks. As with 

 the other members of the family, the eggs are 

 extremely variable in size, but average about 

 4.2.5 x 2.50. 



yy>- 



cs. 



Black-fdoted Albatross 



Slioit-taiU'd Albatross 



59 



