182 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Art. XIV. — On the Birds observed during a Voyage from 

 Neiv Zealand to England. 



By Sir Walter L. Buller, K.C.M.G., D.Sc, F.E.S. 



{^Rcad before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 13th December, 1S93.] 



In the bright sunshine, at 3 p.m. on Thursday, the 2nd 

 March, we steamed out of Lyttelton Harbour on board the 

 good ship " Coptic " (Captain Kempson, E.N.E.), bound for 

 London. Flocks of Seagulls (Larus dominicanus and Larus 

 scopulinus) hovered near us as we left our moorings and 

 bore down the harbour. A few Crested Shags {PJiala- 

 crocorax imnctatus) crossed our weather-bow as we reached 

 the Heads, but as we got away from the coast these birds 

 disappeared, and there was not a sign of animation on 

 the dark waters as we stood out to sea. On the following 

 morning, there being a stiff breeze blowing, we had a num- 

 ber of large Albatroses in our wake, and these kept in close 

 attendance all the next day. Most of them were Diomedea 

 exuloMS, about an equal number of old and young birds, 

 the former in dappled-white plumage and black wings, and 

 the latter in dark plumage with white face and belly. There 

 were also a few of my Diomedea regia, all showing the white 

 patch on the humeral flexure very conspicuously. On the 4th 

 March a Skua {Lcstris antarcticus) made two cruises round the 

 ship and then disappeared, his plump, rounded body and heavy 

 flight rendering him very readily distinguishable on the wing. 

 He came near enough to the ship to make the white spot at the 

 base of the primaries distinctly visible. I saw a pair of what 

 appeared to be CEstrelata lessoni. They did not come very 

 near to us, and were not, so far as I could see, very alert on 

 the wing. When about 1,060 miles from port (lat. 50° 31' S., 

 long. 163° 14' W.) a Shy Albatros (Diomedea cauta) put in an 

 appearance, and after performing one or two wide circuits, 

 often rising high in the air with a very angular disposition of 

 the wings, vanished in the mists of the ocean and was seen 

 no more. 



On the morning of the 5th March a very beautiful Alba- 

 tros {Diomedea regia) appeared on the scene. It was of 

 enormous size, and wholly white, except the pinions beyond 

 the second flexure of the wing, looking in the distance like a 

 huge Gannet held against the sky, and so conspicuous in its 

 albinism that it could be readily distinguished among a hun- 

 dred ordinary birds. So near an approach to perfect albinism 

 I have not before met with among the Albatroses, although, as 

 recorded from time to time, I have obtained several more or 



