354 THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TUBINARES. 



Pacific Ocean, and the only one common on the Californian coast, all others being 

 mere stragglers, or found so far from land as to be rarely seen, and hardly belong- 

 ing to our fauna. He mentions finding young specimens of this Albatross as far 

 south as San Nicolas Island, lat. 33° N., on the 1st of July, but was assured that 

 none breed on any of the more southern islands ; and it is very unlikely that they do 

 this on any of those within our limits. These birds had apparently followed some 

 vessel from the far north. They were extremely familiar, alighting within a few 

 yards of his craft, and evidently expecting to be fed, as they followed the vessel for 

 some distance, and caught at the pieces of meat thrown to them. The}' are often 

 taken with a hook when following vessels along the coast, especially when young. 

 He saw it off Monterey in April ; but whether it leaves the coast entirely between 

 that month and July he cannot state with certainty, but presumes that the few 

 birds noticed at that time are immature or unmated. Of the old birds in the white 

 plumage he met with but a single specimen, and that was found dead on the beach 

 at San Uiego. This species very rarely shows itself within sight of land. 



Dr. Cooper also mentions that at San Diego he saw none of these birds until about 

 December 15, when the whale-fishery commenced. They usually kept outside of the 

 bay; but in stormy weather came a short distance in. sailing rapidly about over the 

 surface, in an oblique position, in search of scraps, and if they found a quantity near 

 together, settling down and swimming about after them. At such times he found no 

 difficulty in approaching the birds in a skiff, and one morning he shot two on the 

 water very near together. Though killed instantly, they disgorged the oily contents 

 of their stomachs, as they do when taken alive. He has seen seven or eight together 

 near the mouth of the bay, all in the sooty plumage. One of the three obtained was 

 a female, and did not differ in size from the largest male. When caught with a hook, 

 as it follows a vessel, and taken on board, this bird is unable to rise lit mi the deck, 

 as it requires a long range of surface on which to flap its wings. 



Mr. IT. W. Elliott states that the Short-tailed Albatross was often seen about the 

 Prybilof Islands some twenty or thirty years ago, when whaling vessels were reaping 

 their rich harvests in the Behring and Arctic seas, thus affording tin- birds an oppor- 

 tunity to feed upon any refuse of the whales which might drift on shore. With the 

 decrease of the fishery, the Albatross has almost entirely disappeared ; and only a 

 single individual was seen by Mr. Elliott during his two years' residence in that 

 locality. This bird is common around Unalashka Island, where he saw a large number 

 on his way to San Francisco, in August, 1873. 



Mr. Dall speaks of this species as being very abundant off shore throughout the 

 Aleutian Islands, where it takes the place of D. nigripes, which seldom ventures 

 north of lat. 50° X. It probably breeds in the islands, as he saw the remains of a 

 young bird at Atka. Its bones were abundant in the ancient Aleutian shell-heaps. 

 It is much larger than /'. niijri/jes, and is apparently a resident in the Aleutian 

 Islands from Atka eastward. 



An egg of this species (Smithsonian Institution, No. 949 — taken by Mr. Titian 

 B. Peale in the Pacific islands) is of an oval shape, with rounded ends, and of a 

 dull white color, measuring 4.00 inches in length by 2.60 in breadth. 



