510 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



all fresh, a few only showing signs of incubation. Overhead 

 nvunerous albatroses soared about. I could not quite make 

 out the order of business, but some authorities say the males 

 come down to feed their mates. Certain it is that either male 

 or female — and I suppose the latter — sits perpetually. If she 

 were to show the colour of her egg a sea-hawk would certainly 

 spike it. These creatures watch incessantly at the penguin 

 rookeries for chances of this kind, and nothing comes amiss to 

 them. We gathered these hundred eggs from about twenty- 

 five acres of ground. Had we been so inchued, we might 

 have walked further and got far more. If one-fifth of the 

 island is albatros-nestiug ground, 140,000 birds could nest 

 upon it : in fact, the whole of the high land of the interior 

 is probably nesting-ground, and fom- eggs to the acre is far 

 below what we found must be the rule elsewhere. Never- 

 theless, solitary islands are few and small, and albatroses 

 are numerous, so there must be some further explanation of 

 the vast numbers bred. ■ It is certain that the information 

 collected by Sir W. Buller and others may yet be very largely 

 supplemented. Professor Scott states that the albatros does 

 not breed at Macquarie Island." The landing-party from 

 Commodore "Wilkes's ship " Peacock," however, describe the 

 birds as extremely bold, picking up penguin eggs the party had 

 laid down. I suspect these good saUors had given the name 

 ■" albatros " to the skua-gull or sea-hawk. 



There is evidently a rule in albatros-nestiag. Here the 

 season was weU on, and the birds were of medium age. At 

 Campbell Island, a long vray south, the season was much 

 ^arthe^ advanced, the eggs having young birds in them, wliile 

 the bkds were quite white and far lai'ger than here. At Anti- 

 podes Island, where the albatroses were enormously plentiful, 

 eg^s were extremely rare, and quite freshly laid and clean ; 

 while the birds were younger and much darker than at either 

 of the other places. One must almost suppose that the bhds 

 do not return to then- old nests, nor even to then- former island, 

 but pass on as they grow older to an island fm-ther south. 

 The order in which we found them is evidently constant. The 

 dates may vary a little. Captain Fairchild is endeavouring to 

 collect more certain infonnation. The tin clips which he occa- 

 sionally puts upon them, with the date and place of capture, 

 may sei-ve some day to clear this up. 



The dates and latitudes are as follow : — 



Antipodes Island, 17th January. — Dark birds. Majority 

 not yet nesting, but billing. Eggs rare ; incubation not com- 

 menced. Nest-building active. Lat. 49^ 42'. 



Adam's Island, oth January. — Medium birds. Majority 



• Trans., vol. xv., p. 484. 



