i6o Soiithern Cross. 



DIOMEDEA, Linn. 



1. DiOMEDEA EXULANS. 



Diomedea exulans, Liim., Syst. Nat., I., p. 214 (176G) ; Gould, B. Austr., VII., 

 pi. 8S (1844); id. Haodb., IT., p. 427 (1865) ; Gigl. Faun. Vert. Oceano, p. 49 

 (1870) ; Sharpe, Pliil. Trans., CLXVIII. (extra vol.), p. 145 (1879, Kergueleu) ; 

 Moseley, .Votes Nat. ' Clmllenger,' p. 134 (1879, Tristan da Cunha, breeding), 

 p. 171 (Marion Island), p. 180 (Crozet Islands); Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 XXV., p. 441 (1896) ; Hanson in Borchgr. Antarctic Cent. App., p. 322 (1901). 



No. 1 A. ^. 42° 23' S.L., 20° 32' E.L., Oct. 24th, 1899. 

 Iris brown, the eyelids bluish grey ; bill bluish livid, the tip 

 white ; feet light bluish red, with the webs of the same colour. 

 No. 2 A. ? . 44° 26' S.L., 37° E.L., Oct. 29th, 1898. 

 Soft parts as above. 



Neither bird is completely adult, though the male has the 

 secondaries for the most part white, with brown frecklings ; on the 

 crown are the remains of a brown patch. In the younger female 

 the crown is dull brown, and the entire wing is blackish, as pointed 

 out by Mr. Salvin. 



No. 1 is the specimen mentioned by Mr. Hanson (antca, p. 81) on 

 the 24th of October, 1898. " This morning, as soon as I came on 

 deck, I caught a large Albatros." And again on the 29th he says : — 

 " Caught a large Albatros. It is a little darker than the first, and 

 perhaps a year younger. The number of Albatroses about the ship 

 increases every day. Last night I observed at one time eight large 

 ones " (p. 82). Previous entries in his diary record the occurrence 

 of the species on the voyage south to the Cape seas. Nearing 

 Tasmania, towards the end of November, Albatroses were noticed, 

 and one was caught on the 25th, but was apparently not preserved. 

 These may have been Diomedea regia, and not D. exulans, as may 

 also have been the Albatros recorded by Mr. Borchgrevink as 

 " plentiful " on December 20th, the day after the ' Southern Cross ' 

 left Hobart. He saw some more on the 23rd (p. 53). 



Mr. Hanson observes {antea, p. 93) on the 14th of February : — 

 " A Diomedea, apparently D. exulans, followed us also for some time, 

 and I believe that this is the first time that this bird has been seen 

 so far south (69° 13' S. Lat,)," but the species seen may have been 

 D. regia. It was noticed when the ' Southern Cross ' had left the 

 ice-pack and was in the open sea again. 



