16 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL. MUSEUM. 



parent, though I could not distinguish the slightest individuality in tone. I do 

 not know whether they do this when the old birds are present, but remember 

 that very many were engaged in the cricket-like song when we visited a popu- 

 lous colony late one moonlight night. 



On their breeding gounds the albatrosses live quietly and har- 

 moniously with their neighbors, attending strictly to their own 

 affairs and paying no attention to the populous bird colonies about 

 them, and not minding even the presence of man among them. 

 Doctor Fisher (1906) says: 



The old birds do not seem to mind the presence of man. One can walk among 

 them without disturbing their various occupations and amusements in the least. 

 Only when suddenly startled do they exhibit any tendency to snap their bills, 

 and then they are easily calmed. They back away from .any proffered 

 familiarity with great rapidity, unless suddenly hindered by a tuft of grass, 

 which event surprises them immoderately. They will not allow themselves to 

 be handled, and make off at a great rate if one offers them this indignity. 

 They have a half-doubting inquisitiveness which leads them sometimes to walk 

 up to the visitor and examine anything conspicuous about his person. One bird 

 became greatly interested in the bright aluminum cap to my tripod and strolled 

 up and examined it with both eye and beak, appearing somewhat astonished 

 when the cap tinkled. 



Winter. — During July and August the young albatrosses learn to 

 fly and to follow their parents out to sea in search of food, after 

 which both young and old birds begin to desert the breeding islands 

 and to wander over the Pacific Ocean for two or three months before 

 the beginning of another breeding season, hardly more than a short 

 vacation. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Islands northwest of Hawaiian group, in mid- 

 Pacific Ocean. (Laysan, Midway, French Frigate, Necker, Bird, and 

 Lisiansky Islands.) formerly in Marcus Island. Breeding grounds 

 protected in Haw^aiian Islands reservation. 



Range. — Central Pacific Ocean. East to the coast of Lower Cali- 

 fornia (between Guadalupe Island and coast of Lower California). 

 North to about 40° north. West to the Bonin Islands. Southern 

 limits not well defined. 



Egg dates. — Laysan and Midway Islands : Twenty records, No- 

 vember 15 to December 29 ; ten records, November 19 to December 26. 



THALASSOGERON CHRYSOSTOMUS CULMINATUS (Gould). 

 YELLOW-NOSED ALBATROSS. 



HABITS. 



This species has i)ut slight claims to a place on the list of North 

 American birds, and it can not be regarded as anything but a rare 

 straggler off our coasts. Considerable confusion seems to exist among 



