March 17, 1965 was recaptured at 1200 hours 

 on March 18, 1965; it had followed the ship 18 

 hours and 180 miles (see table 2). 



Laysan Albatross 



Diomedea immutabilis Rothschild 



Status : Uncommon visitor February-April, 

 rare or absent May-January. 



Months 



Year 



1964 



1965 



Although one bird was seen on November 23, 

 the species was not recorded regularly until 

 after February 25, when adults on the breeding 

 islands along the leeward Hawaiian chain were 

 beginning to leave their chicks unattended most 

 of the time. Numbers reached a peak in March 

 and declined in April. The last birds of the 

 season were seen on May 2, 1964 (at the end of 

 the April 1964 cruise) and April 27. 1965. 

 Adults were on the breeding islands as late as 

 June, however. 



Maximum number seen at one time was three 

 on April 4, 1964, the last day of the March 1964 

 cruise. 



Distribution : This species was found most fre- 

 quently at the northern end of the area. As its 

 numbers increased, its range extended south- 

 ward, although greatest density was still in the 

 north. On March 27, 1964 one bird was seen at 

 lat. 11°30' N. and long. 151° W. Thompson 

 (1951) recorded a Laysan Albatross from lat. 

 8°30' N.,long. 163°35' W.,180 miles (333.5 km.) 

 south of our record. 



In April the reduction in numbers was ac- 

 companied by a contraction of range to the 

 northern end of the study area. No bird was 

 seen south of lat. 22° N. in April. 



The general distribution was similar to that 

 of the Black-footed Albatross, although the 



smaller numbers seen each month prevent as 

 detailed an analysis. The area of greatest 

 density, the northern edge of the study area, 

 coincided with that of the Black-footed Alba- 

 tross (fig. 4). 



This species follows ships less frequently 

 than does the Black-footed Albatross. On 

 April 4, 1964, however, two Laysan Albatrosses 

 followed the ship for over 11 hours, and on 

 several occasions others followed for shorter 

 periods. Birds that did not follow were at- 

 tracted close to the ship as they passed by. 

 Thus, the disparity between monthly totals of 

 this species and of the Black-footed Albatross 

 in the study area is probably real, although the 

 former outnumbers the latter on their breed- 

 ing grounds by 5 to 1 (Palmer, 1962). A breed- 

 ing distribution closer to the breeding islands 

 or north of the study area, rather than indif- 

 ference to or repulsion from the ship, may 

 explain the discrepancies in numbers. 



DIOMEDEA IMMUTABILIS MARCH 1964 to APRIL 1965 



• I bird 



• 5 birds 



Figure 4. — Distribution of Laysan Albatross. 



