12 BULLETIlSr 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL. MUSEUM. 



So vast is the number of birds that many are obliged to be content with 

 i-ather unsuitable nesting spots, while late comers must leave the overcrowded 

 area. Loving couples defend their rights against the tardy ones, ftud it is 

 several days before all have settled tlieir respective claims. 



Courtship. — On their arrival and all through their breeding sea- 

 son these birds indulge in a very peculiar and interesting dance, 

 which the sailors refer to as a "cake walk." Doctor Fisher (1904) 

 has fully described the performance, as follows : 



This game or whatever one may wish to call it, very likely originated in 

 past time during the courting season, but it certainly has long since lost any 

 such significance. At first two birds approach one another, bowing pro- 

 foundly and stepping heavily. They swagger about each other, nodding and 

 courtesying solemnly, then suddenly begin to fence a little, crossing bills and 

 whetting them together, sometimes with a whistling sound, meanwhile pecking 

 and dropping stilT little bows. All at once one lifts its closed wing and nibbles 

 at the feathers beneath, or rarely, if in a hurry, quickly turns its head. The 

 partner during tliis short performance, assumes a statuesque pose, and either 

 looks mechanically from side to side, or snaps its bill loudly a few times. 

 Tlien the first bird bows once, and pointing its head and beak straight upward, 

 rises on its toes, puffs out its breast, and utters a prolonged, nasal, Ah-h-h-h, 

 with a rapidly rising inflection, and with a distinctly " anserine " and " bovine " 

 quality, quite difficult to describe. While this " song " is being uttered the 

 companion loudly and rapidly snaps its bill. Often both birds raise their heads 

 in air and either one or both favor the appreciative audience with that 

 ridiculous, and indescribable bovine groan. When they have finished they begin 

 bowing to each other again, rapidly and alternately, and presently repeat 

 the performance, the birds reversing their role in the game or not. In the most 

 successful dances the movements are executed in perfect unison, and this fact 

 much enhances the extraordinary effect. 



Nesting. — Doctor Fisher (1906) says of the nesting colonies on 

 Laysan Island : 



The Laysan albatross or gony is distributed all over the island, with the 

 single exception of the beaches, which on all sides except the west are colon- 

 ized by the black-footed albatross. The flat plain surrounding the lagoon is 

 their favorite habitat, and we found the young here in far the greatest num- 

 bers. This great colony extended all the way around the lagoon, but certain 

 portions were more congestetl than others. The largest single colony of ^oung 

 is on the .south side of the lagoon, where the ground has been leveled off in 

 past years by phosphate-rock diggers. Here from a little eminence one can 

 look off and see many thousands of birds at a glance, but it would be hazardous 

 to guess how many there are on the whole island. 



Dr. T. W. Richards (1909) describes the nest as follows: 



Regarding the nesting habits. Dr. Campbell noted an interesting point of 

 difference in the two species ; both lay in slight hollows scratched in the 

 bare sand, but immiitaMUs usually heaps up this material in a ridge around 

 the " nest." He says " the bird, sitting on the nest and reaching out as far 

 as possible, picks up sand in its bill and deposits same around the edge until it 

 is built up four or five inches. I noticed the difference in contour of nests 

 of the two species, and as a white pair (Laysan) made a nest just beyond 

 my door I was enabled to discover how it was done. The building up of the 



