90 



ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



and the description leaves no doubt whatever that it is the bird subse- 

 quently called i)io?/ie<?c« &rac7imra; the measurements alone are quite 

 conclusive. 



There cannot be the slightest doubt that plate 963 of " Planches En- 

 luminures " represents the young of the present species, and as Tem- 

 ruinck bestowed the name chinensis on that figure, the latter name, as 

 given m 1820, would take the precedence over the same author's 

 hrachiura, which is fifteen years later, had it not been for Pallas's name. 



Not having seen a specimen purporting to be Swinhoe's derogata I 

 am unable to form an Of)iniou as to its validity. 



List of ^ecimena collected. 



No. 92906.— Bill reddish violet ; nail whitish. Feet grayi&h blue with dusky on the joints and webs. 

 No. 92907. — Iris dark brown. Bill violet flesh color ; nail more bluish white. Feet as the bUl, only 

 somewhat tinged with brownish gray. Sexual organs undeveloped. 



The Albatros— by which name it is known to the natives also — by no 

 means is a rare visitor to the Commander Islands, where I never saw 

 D. nigripes AuD., a species which, on our northward voyage from San 

 Francisco, left us before we reached the Aleutian Chain. They do not 

 remain near the islands during the winter — at least I saw none — but 

 the first ones were observed as early as the middle of March. These 

 were old birds in the white plumage, and on April 14th not less than 

 eight were seen at one time near the village. During the summer, how- 

 ever, the black young birds of the foregoing year are more numerous 

 than the adults, of which a few remain all summer, though without 

 breeding, of course. In the middle of the immense flocks of Lunda, 

 Fratercida, and Fulmarus, which in quiet weather rest on the surface 

 of the sea, covering many acres, can always be seen one or two of these 

 comparatively gigantic dark birds, which, however, are the first ones 

 to take the wing at the approach of a, boat or a bajdarka. This species 

 is remarkably shyer than D. nigripes. 



