12 OCEAN BIRDS. 



(p. 178), the dimensions of a female are given as follows : — Total length, 31 in. ; bill, 4:^ in. ; 

 wing, 21J in. ; tail, 9 in. ; tarsi, 3 in. The male is always considerably larger. 



Figs. 4 and 5 represent two species so micommonly alike that it would indeed 

 require a naturalist of the late Mr. Gould's order to have so distinguished them. In 

 mid-ocean they generally both go by the name of the " Golden-beak Molly-hawk." 



The specimen from which Fig. 4 is copied is thus summed up in my private log : — 

 "24th Oct. 1867. Caught a Golden-beak Molly, with golden eyes, 5 ft. 9^ in. across the 

 wings. Lat. 42° 05' S., long. 123° 41' E." The real name of this bird is the Culminated 

 Albatross {D. culminata). It is essentially an Australian bird, and is generally found 

 roaming about the S.W. shores of that great continent, but also frequents the Southern, 

 Indian, and South Pacific Oceans. 



In Moseley's 'Notes by a Naturalist on the Challenger,' we find the following 

 account, but whether it refers to D. culminata or D. chlororhynchos (the Yellow-billed 

 Albatross) is not quite clear. Perhaps, like many others, he considers them but varieties 

 of the same bird, and so couples the two names in one:— "The Yellow-billed Albatross 

 {D. culminata) breeds on Nightingale Island, the smaUest of the Tristan group, about 

 twenty miles S.W. of Tristan da Cunha Island, and about a square mile in extent. 

 The whole of this island, except the steepest slopes and the highest peaks, about one 

 thousand feet above the sea, is covered with a luxuriant growth of tall grass, almost 

 impenetrable, higher than a man's head, and studded here and there with clumps 

 of trees. This sea of verdure is intersected by a long lane or street through which the 

 Penguins make their way to the sea." 



The specimen from which Fig. 5 was drawn was caught by me in lat. 54° 16' S., 

 long. 112° 53' W., and in my private log is described as the Blue-necked Golden-beaked 

 Molly. 



Now both L. culminata and D. chlororhynchos are blue-necked and both are golden- 

 beaked, and they are no doubt closely allied, but I should be inclined to say that 

 D. culminata is a larger and heavier-looking bird, especially about the neck, where 

 there is also less blue than in D. chlororhynchos. The eyebrow is also much less distinctly 

 marked. There is also a considerable difference in the colouring of the beak and in 

 the way in which the golden-yellow is laid on, which is clearly shown in the 

 illustrations. The webbed feet of D. culminata are also proportionately larger than 

 those of D. chlororhynchos. The largest specimens I ever caught of either measured 

 eight feet across the wings. Gould says D. chlororhynchos fairly dives after its prey, 

 swimming under the water the while. 



