THE BIRDS OF SOUTH GEORGIA 567 



the yolks being yellow and the albumen setting white when cooked. Each hen albatross 

 lays one egg only, though if the eggs are taken a second laying takes place, preceded 

 by a second courtship. The eggs are white, with red spots and frecklings, always more 

 at the large end and sometimes forming there a definite ring or zone. In January, 

 1926, one was seen on Albatross Island, in the Bay of Isles, that was entirely covered 

 with the red markings so that the ground colour was completely obscured. Data 

 regarding the period of incubation were not collected. Some newly hatched young 

 and others judged to be at least a fortnight old were seen at Undine Harbour late in 

 March, 1926, but as practically all the eggs were collected from this place in the 

 preceding December and January these young probably represented a second laying, so 

 that no inference as to the period of incubation can be drawn from them. Both sexes 

 incubate. On a sunny day in December, 1925, a number of large black Hce (Mallophaga) 

 were observed crawling about on the surface of the feathers of several incubating birds. 



The newly hatched young are covered with white down and have the bill and feet 

 yellowish white and the eye dark brown. The tip of the bill, both of mandible and 

 maxilla, is bent downwards and it is not until the young are three to four months old 

 that it assumes its typical shape. During the first six weeks of their existence the 

 young are sheltered by one of the parents sitting on the nest, but by the time they 

 are two months old they are too big to be brooded and the nest is left unprotected by 

 both parents, who go fishing at sea. When newly hatched the young has a soft chirping 

 sound which it makes when hungry. In feeding the young the old birds regurgitate 

 partly digested food into the bill, from which it is taken by the nestling. 



The young remain in the nest for ten full months and by the end of August they are 

 as big as their parents. They are then covered with a thick coat of huffish white woolly 

 down, attached to the ends of the feathers which grow underneath it. On the head 

 and neck the down is lighter, being nearly white. The feet are grey-white and the bill 

 is huffish and as the birds get older it develops a pinkish tinge at the base. The eye is 

 dark brown (Plate XLVIII, fig. 3). When they are approached at this age they sit 

 back in the nest and stretch up the neck, all the while facing the visitor. They then 

 snap the bill several times in rapid succession and make a gobbling noise very much 

 like that made by a turkey. If they are further worried they vomit up the contents of 

 their stomachs. The parents stay away at sea most of the time, returning only about 

 once a day to their young. When they arrive with food they sit down on the snow 

 beside the young one, which nibbles the throat of the parent and makes its gobbling 

 cry in asking for food. The parent then regurgitates the food into the throat from 

 which the young one takes it. The parent leaves again as soon as the young one has 

 been fed, remaining with it only a few minutes. 



In November and December the down covering falls off the ends of the feathers, 

 exposing the first adult plumage. This is a dark brown black all over, with the exception 

 of the facial area which is white. The feet are dark grey with a pink tinge and the bill 

 is huffish (Plate XLVIII, fig. 4). When the down is shed the parents desert the young, 

 which do not at once leave the land, but haunt the old neighbourhood for some days 



