S70 DISCOVERY REPORTS 



Cephalopods are the food of this species, the stomachs of those examined being 

 packed with beaks and spermatophores, some of which, judging by their size, must 

 have come from animals over a metre in length. 



Thalassogeron culminatus, Gould 



Grey-Headed Albatross 



(Plate XLV, fig. 3 ; Plate LI, figs, i, 2) 



This species is so similar to Diomedea melanophrys in habits that no separate de- 

 scription will be given, all the remarks on the nesting and courtship of that species 

 applying equally to both. This species is known to the South Georgia whalers as the 

 "Blue Mollyhawk". It occurs in large numbers at sea in the neighbourhood of the 

 island all the year round and comes ashore for nesting in October. Its rookeries are 

 at the north-east end of the island ; they are extensive and in similar places to those 

 of D. melanophrys, and often close to them (Plate LI, fig. i). The two species are not 

 mixed in the rookeries but keep apart, though occasional pairs of each nest in the 

 rookeries of the other. 



The single egg (Plate LI, fig. 2), laid about half way through October, is indis- 

 tinguishable from that of Z). melanophrys. Both sexes incubate. The eggs of both species 

 are taken by the whalers in large numbers for eating. So tame are the birds that the 

 eggs can be taken from under them without pushing them ofi^ the nest ; they merely 

 rattle and snap the bill in protest at the disturbance. If the egg is taken a second one 

 is laid. Though large quantities are taken annually there are so many inaccessible 

 rookeries that there is no danger of diminishing either of the species. 



The writer has not seen the young of Th. culminatus, but is informed that it is similar 

 to that of the D. melanophrys. 



The soft parts of the adult are : bill black with a yellow dorsal stripe, tip orange ; the 

 lower border of the mandible yellow. Iris dark brown (Plate XLV, fig. 3). Feet and 

 legs greyish white, claws white. The ridge of skin at the gape, exposed by parting the 

 feathers when the bird brays, is orange-j^ellow. 



Cephalopod beaks and spermatophores only were found in the stomachs examined. 



Phoebetria palpebrata antarctica, Mathews 



Sooty Albatross 



(Plate LI, figs. 3, 4) 



The Sooty Albatross is common at sea off South Georgia all the year. It may 

 sometimes be seen in small flocks of about a dozen sitting on the water at the entrances 

 of the fjords. Ashore it occurs all round the coasts at the breeding season. It is not 

 gregarious, each pair as a rule nesting away from its neighbours. However, three pairs 

 were found nesting within a few feet of each other on the same ledge of a cliff at North 

 Bay in Ice Fjord in October, 1925. Usually the nests are on ledges of inaccessible 

 cliffs, but several that could be reached were found. They are built of mud and are 



