THE VICTORIAN' NATURALIST. 143 



of the South" from whence arise Meteorologist Wragge's 

 classical storms. Coming nearer Australian shores we have 

 Campbell Island, a complete contrast to Kerguelen ; for, 

 although a full degree nearer Antarctica, Campbell Island is 

 verdure clad almost to its central peak — Lyall Hill, 1,355 ^ eet above 

 the sea — and girt about the base with Ironwood, so called ; thick 

 with dark green foliage and stems gnarled and twisted by many a 

 gale ; while at our own door is the Albatross Rock of Flinders, 

 bald and bleak, breaking the swell of the Southern Ocean near 

 the north-west corner of Tasmania, where our members — Messrs. 

 D. Le Souef, H. P. C. Ashworth, and Gabriel — landed so 

 recently. 



Such places are some of the breeding haunts of the 

 albatrosses. 



The Short-tailed Albatross, however, breeds in northern lati- 

 tudes. The eggs I have received through the agency of Mr. 

 Alan Owston, Yokohama, Japan, were taken on Bonin Islands, 

 where the eggs are laid at the end of October and the beginning 

 of November. It is most interesting to note that, although these 

 months are the fall of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, they 

 correspond with the laying season of the albatrosses in the south, 

 thus proving, I think, that the Short-tailed Albatross was once a 

 dweller with or sprang from the southern birds, and became 

 isolated in the north. 



Nest. — None, the egg being laid on the bare ground. 



Egg. — Clutch one. Lengthened, or a longish oval in shape, 

 more compressed at one end ; texture of shell coarse and strong ; 

 surface rough, with just a perceptible trace of gloss ; colour, dirty 

 or yellowish-white, more or less ingrained or stained with earth, 

 and with a rusty-coloured or rufous-brown cap of freckled or 

 blotchy markings on the larger end. In addition, some examples 

 have, here and there over the rest of the shell, dull purplish- 

 brown spots. Dimensions in inches — (1) 4.67 x 2.9 ; (2) 4.65 x 

 2.95. A smaller example in Dr. Charles Ryan's collection 

 measures 4.26 x 2.63. 



We are all more or less interested in these splendid sea-birds — 

 the albatrosses — and it behoves us especially as a Naturalists' 

 Club to see that the " rookery " at our own door is protected. 

 Bird-oil is a valuable commodity, worth ^£20 per ton, and the 

 teeming numbers of birds on some of the southern islands are 

 attracting commercial attention. A company is at present working 

 Macquarie Island. 



Nothing would be easier than for an enterprising party to swoop 

 down, some autumn season, upon Albatross Rock and boil down 

 the birds there, both old and young. So, for the sake of a few 

 barrels of oil, the only species of albatross peculiar to Australia 

 would be, if not altogether, well-nigh annihilated. 



