THE CAPE PIGEON 263 



carcass the moment it is left, a thing that the albatross never does. 

 It has sometimes been seen to chase other birds, bnt never to kill 

 one. Its flight is much more laboured than that of the albatross. 

 It is a filthy bird, and no one has anything to say in its favour. 

 It has well earned its title of ' ' The Vulture of the Seas. ' ' Where 

 quantities of refuse have been deposited, it may often be found 

 gorging itself to repletion. Sailors have asserted that it will 

 attack drowning men. and will Ijegin its horrid repast upon them 

 before they are dead. In Antarctica, nellies seem to be on 

 friendly terms with the penguins, although, when a pengiiin dies, 

 a nelly that happens to be in the neighbourhood soon gobbles it 

 up. Penguins that were shot by an exploring party in the 

 Antarctic Regions were eaten by a nelly before there was time 

 to row a boat round a piece of rock to pick tliem oft'. 



Genus Daption. 



Bill rather slender, the nasal tube narrower and lower at the 

 base. Tail feathers, twelve. Tarsi, slender. Southern Ocean. 



The Cape Pigeon. 



Daption capensis. 



Head, black; back, white spotted with blaelv; below, white. Bill aud 

 feet, black. Length of the wing, 10.5 in.; of the tarsus, 1.8 in. Very 

 common at sea during the winter months, but retires altogether in the 

 summer to breed. 



The Cape pigeon evidently breeds on the Snares, Auckland, 

 and Antipodes Islands, as large numbers may be seen there in the 

 summer. These and other small oceanic birds are much more 

 easily caught with a thread than with a hook. The method 

 adopted is as follows : — A small piece of wood, about an inch and 

 a half long, is tied by its middle to a line of white thread or silk. 

 This is thrown over the stern, and is allowed to float out some 

 twenty or thirty yards. The birds, flying under the stern of the 

 ship, strike against the thread and entangle their wings in it. 

 They are then hauled gently on board. If the ship is going very 



