86 



NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS. 



the great number of secondaries. Formerly, two other distinctive marks were attri- 

 buted to the albatrosses, viz., want of aftershafts, and lack of hind toe, but rudiments 

 both of the former and of the latter have recently lieen proved to c.\ist. 



The longe.sUand ]ierli;ii>.s best known species is llie wandering albatross (Diomedea 

 exnkins), the one represented by the accompanying cut, the largest water-bird in exis- 

 tence, and the bird with the greatest stretch of wing, some specimens bi'ing said to 



l-°iu. ;J7. — Diomeilea txulans, wauderiug albatross. 



measure fourteen feet between the tips of the wings. The color is white, more or less 

 waved, and veniiioiilatt'd with blackish, the hanil-fcatluTS being black ; the eye is 

 brown, the naked ring round it light greeni.sh, the bill j)inkish wliito, and the legs of 

 a light flesh color. Like all the members of the family, they are inter-trojjical and 

 sulwmtarctic in their distributian, and it is a significant fact which shoulil not be lost 

 sight of, when discussing the affinities and genesis of the Tubinares, that the group 

 reaches its gi-eatest development and number of forms south of the ecpiator. 



Xo traveler has witnessed the albatross in the state of nature without expressing 



