34 Mr. J. H. Gurncy — Comparative 



It is on record that a [Mute] Swan died at Alkmaar, a 

 town near Amsterdam, in 1675, which bore a metal collar 

 on which was inscribed the date " 1573/' indicating a life of 

 102 years. After considerable search to verify this story, it 

 has been satisfactorily traced by Mr. F. E. Blaauw and 

 Mr. Bruinvis to the original record in the ' Chronyk van 

 Nedenblik door Dirk Burger van Schoorl' (1762). 



At the celebrated Swannery at Abbotsbury, in Dorset- 

 shire, the Mute Swans have the reputation of being capable 

 of living 150 years, but it does not appear that any attempt 

 has been made to ' riug ' them. Cygnus atratus and C. bucci- 

 nator have been kept to 18, and C. musicus to 12 years. The 

 oldest Duck I shall have to quote was only 29, but Icelanders 

 have asserted that Eider Ducks have been known to live 100 

 years (Olafsen and Povelsen). 



DlOMEDEID^. 



I am indebted to Mr. H. Gronvold for news of an Albatross 

 of about 46, on the authority of a Japanese newspaper called 

 the ' Hiogo News/ and for a translation of the narrative of its 

 capture. The Albatross was taken by the ship * Duchess of 

 Argyll/ Capt. Hoard, near Cape Horn, with a compass-case 

 attached to its neck, containing the information that it had 

 been previously caught in the middle of the North Atlantic 

 by an American vessel, the ' Columbus,' on May 8, 1840. 

 A new case was affixed, and it was again dated and released, 

 in January or February, 1887. As has been already men- 

 tioned, an Albatross has the power of going a very long 

 time without food, which gives it an advantage in the race 

 for life. 



The kind assistance of Dr. J. Biittikofer, Mr. E. Meade- 

 Waldo, Mr. H. Gronvold, and Dr. A. G. Butler has been 

 rendered to enable me to compile the following List of 75 

 species, and I am especially indebted to Dr. Paul Leverktihn, 

 of Sofia, Mr. F. E. Blaauw, of Hilversum, C.M.Z.S., and 

 Prof. Newton for their help. Where the words " still alive " 

 are added, they mean living at the age here given. The sex 



