266 Mr. W. Eagle Clarke on the 



I was inclined to think that it might be an immature 

 example of T. chlororhynchus in a phase of plumage which, 

 if known, is not described by Salvin [t.c. pp. 451-2). It 

 differs, however, from the mature bird of that species in 

 having the bill shorter and entirely black, and the toes much 

 shorter. Its dimensions are : wing 18"2 inches, tarsus 3*0, 

 middle toe 3*5, outer toe 32, inner toe 2*3, and culmen 

 4-75. 



This bird was captured under somewhat singular circum- 

 stances. Dr. Harvey Pirie was proceeding up the ravine 

 (shown in text-fig. 18, p. 251), when he came upon it on the 

 top of a mass of tussock-grass on which it had alighted, 

 but from which it could not rise on the wing again. It was 

 apparently quite uninjured, and could only have been there 

 a few minutes, for other members of the party had passed 

 the spot only a little in advance, and could not have failed 

 to see the bird had it been there, as the ravine is particu- 

 larly narrow at the point where it was found. This curious 

 incident might be explained on the supposition that it was a 

 young bird essaying to reach the sea from its inland nursery 

 which had halted by the way. Mr. Comer tells us that 

 the young of Diomedea exulans do not fly until they are 

 ten months old; and if this holds good even for a lesser 

 period in other species it would help to explain the date and 

 the peculiar circumstances under which this specimen was 

 found away from the sea. 



Mr. Rothschild and Dr. Hartert, who have examined the 

 specimen, tell me that it resembles T. carteri, recently 

 described by Mr. Rothschild (Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, xiv. 

 p. 6) from a single example which came ashore with an 

 injured wing at Point Cloates, N.W. Australia, and that the 

 Gough Island bird only differs in having the toes nearly 

 •75 inch shorter, and in having the hind-neck washed with 

 grey instead of being white. As regards my suggestion 

 that the specimen under consideration may possibly be im- 

 mature, Dr. Hartert remarks that he finds nothing to shew 

 that other Albatroses have the bill black in the young, and, 

 moreover, that such an example would hardly have a face 

 with pure white sides. 



