criterion. Part of each year albatrosses spend all their time at sea, skimming the ocean 

 in magnificent soaring flight or resting on it. At mating time they throng to a few tiny 

 oceanic islands, as at Laysan. 



The dance of the Laysan albatross, illustrated by the two birds standing breast to 

 breast in the center of the group with their bills pointed skyward, is a remarkable per- 

 formance, probably connected with courtship originally, though now it almost seems 

 to be a pastime. "From a point of vantage, an observer may often see 25 or 30 couples 

 all engaged in this performance at once." Fisher described the dance in part as follows: 

 "Two albatrosses approach each other nodding solemnly all the time. Next they fence 

 a little, crossing bills and whetting them together, pecking meanwhile, and dropping 

 stiff little bows. Sometimes both birds raise their heads in the air and either one or both 

 utter the indescribable and ridiculous groan." The sooty albatross has a modified form 

 of the dance. 



Relatives of the albatrosses are the petrels and shearwaters, which when not breed- 

 ing are also birds of the open ocean, spending all their time at sea. 



It is interesting to note the stratification of the birds, even in a place with such 

 scanty vegetation: the frigate bird nest is on the shrubbery; the albatrosses, boobies, 

 and tropic birds are among those that nest on the ground; and a petrel lays its egg 

 underground. 



[50] 



