274 



THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



to see a vessel 200 feet high more than fifty miles off ; and often, 

 although unable to see the vessel itself, it would see another bird 

 which had evidently discovered one, and would follow it in the 

 same way as vultures are known to follow one another. 



(From a Sketch.) 



Snowy Albatross. 



The Snowy Albatross. 



Diomedea chionoptcra. 



Like D. regia, but the lesser wing coverts along the edge of the wing 

 and the proximate middle coverts, nearly pure white; the upper surface 

 of the wing being much whiter than in either of the other two species. 

 Length of the wing, 25.5 inches; of the tarsus, 5 inches. Breeds on 

 Kerguelen Land and Marion Island. It is only stragglers that visit 

 New Zealand. The eggs have a well marked cap of rufous dots at the 

 larger end; their length is 5 to 5.4 inches. 



The real home of this species seems to be the neighbourhood of Cape 

 Horn, where it is very common, apparently to the exclusion of the 

 wandering albatross {D. exulans) . 



