THE BIRDS OF SOUTH GEORGIA 571 



cylindrical, about a foot high and eighteen inches across (Plate LI, fig. 4). One egg 

 only is laid, in the last week of October or first of November, and it is indistinguishable 

 from those of D. melonophrys and Th. ciilminatiis. 



No elaborate courtship like that of the other albatrosses was seen in this species. 

 At the nesting season a loud shrill cry is produced. One pair was found at the nest 

 before the egg was laid. The female sat on the nest while the male stood on the ledge 

 near by, frequently uttering this cry. It consists of two notes, first a loud shrill one 

 made with the beak open and the head thrown back, so that the bird is looking straight 

 up into the sky (Plate LI, fig. 3). This is an expiratory note and is immediately followed 

 by a much lower and quieter inspiratory note, made with the bill closed and held 

 pointing down to the ground so that the under surface of the mandible rests against 

 the breast. Every two or three times that the male did this the female stood up on the 

 nest and answered in the same way and then sat down again. 



The young in January is covered with grey down, lighter round the face. The beak 

 is black, as are the feet and legs, the webs being lighter. 



The feet and legs of the adult are grey, the bill black with a blue mandibular sulcus. 

 The iris is dark brown. The birds seen in South Georgia all belong to the light plumaged 

 race with blue sulcus on the mandible. 



The food consists of cephalopods. 



Macronectes giganteus, Gmel. 



Giant Petrel, or Stinker 

 (Plate XLV, fig. 4; Plate LII, figs. 1-3) 



This bird is always very numerous at sea and inshore all round the island. It rarely 

 comes on land outside the breeding season, and when it does so it is only to gather 

 carrion off the beach. 



The Giant Petrels come ashore to nest early in October (Plate LII, fig. i). They nest 

 in small colonies on the grassy bluffs and headlands, though the nests are not built 

 close to each other. They always choose high ground for their colonies so that they 

 will have a "take-off" to get on to the wing, as they cannot rise from level ground. 

 The nests are conical piles of tussac, lichen, moss and mud, about two feet in diameter 

 at the base, and about eighteen inches at the top (Plate LII, fig. 2). They are from 

 eighteen inches to two feet in height and have a depression on the top in which the 

 egg is laid. In the South Orkney Islands, where there is no tussac and little moss, all 

 the nests seen by the writer were built of small stones and were not so high. The first 

 eggs are laid half-way through October, and some are not laid until three weeks later; 

 they are white, without markings, and the shell is of coarse texture. There is only one 

 egg in each nest. The period of incubation is said to last six weeks. Young not more 

 than a week old were found in January, 1926 and 1927 (Plate LII, fig. 3). They 

 are covered with white or grey- white down, which is very short round the eye and base 

 of the bill. This is soon replaced by light grey down. The eye is dark brown, the feet 



