424 



PETRELS. 



selves, that they are frequently unable to fly ; and in this state 

 they are often attacked by gulls and other sea-birds, who compel 

 them to disgorge their food, that it may be shared by their 

 feathered enemies. Their nests are built on the islands of the 

 South Sea: they are composed of clay mixed with vegetable 

 remains, are of a round form, and two or three feet high. These 

 birds deposit only one very large ^gg: the parent is said to provide 

 for her offspring during the space of nine months. 



Fig. 2oS —The Wanueking Alb.vtross (_Diomedea exnlans). 



The type of the sub-family is — 



The Wandering Albatross {Diomcdea cxidans). The wandering alba- 

 tross is by far the largest and most powerful species of its tribe, and from its 

 great strength and ferocious disposition is held in terror by all the birds by 

 which it is surrounded. It is most abundant between the thirtieth and sixtieth 

 degrees of south latitude, and appears to be equally numerous in all parts of the 

 Southern Ocean. It is confined to no particular locality, but would seem to 

 be constantly engaged in making the circuit of the globe in that particular 

 zone allotted by nature for its habitation. The open sea is, in fact, its natural 

 range, and this it never leaves except for the purpose of breeding, when it 

 usually resorts to rocky islands the most difficult of access. "The powers of 

 flight of the wandering albatross," says Mr. Gould, " are much greater than 

 those of any other bird that has come under my observation, Althou-gh in 

 calm or moderate weather it sometimes rests on the surface of the water, it is 

 almost constantly on the wing, and is equally at ease while sailing over the 



