1922.] Sense of Snu'll /)0ssessed l>i/ Birds. 231' 



It would seem from other suggestive, if not conclusive, 

 observations, that the attribute of scent belongs to the 

 northern Fulmar, the Blue Prions of the south, and possibly 

 to most species having tubular nostrils, though whether those 

 nostrils are an aid or not is uncertain, for their real use has 

 never been demonstrated. Dr. C. B. Ticehurst considers 

 that he has proved scent in T. pelagka *, of which the 

 preceding anecdote is confirmatory. 



8. Fulmar Petkel [Fulmarus glacialis). — The Fulmar 

 has long been credited with powers of smell, but there is 

 no absolute proof of it, although the general sentiment 

 among seamen is that it works by scent. Dr. Strong, in his 

 anatomical article before referred to (2), descants at some 

 length upon the large olfactory lobes of the Fulmar, which 

 had been previously described by Klinckowstrom (5), 

 remarking that its organs of smell were among the most 

 interesting of any species examined, the inference being that 

 scent in the Petrel is well develojied. 



9. Gannet. — There is one bird about which we should 

 have liked more information from so competent an authority 

 as Dr. Strong, and that is the Gannet {Sula bassanci) ; in 

 this species Dr. Strong finds the olfactory lobe to have a 

 peculiar ventral position, but he does not hazard any opinion 

 as to what this may indicate (2). Gannets and C-ormorants 

 have no external nostrils, which is against their possessing 

 olfactory powers, nor does one see what good they would be 

 to them. 



10. Albatros. — In 1908, Mr. Burne exhibited a pre- 

 paration of the head of an Albatros {^Diomedea exulans) 

 before the Zoological Society, for the purpose of showing 

 the relatively enormous development of the olfactory organ 

 in this species, in which the bulbs were found to measure 

 7 mm, in diameter, and to receive large nerves from the 

 nasal septum and lateral wall of the olfactory chamber (see 

 P. Z. S. 1908, p. 66). In Mr. Burne's opinion this must 

 mean that the Albatros is the possessor of great powers of 



* ' Avicultural Magazine,' lUll-ll', p. 113. 



