A BIRDLOVER'S YEAR 



directed forward, this feature being abso- 

 lutely peculiar, and serving at once to 

 distinguish them from all other birds " 

 (Lydekker's Royal Natural History). All 

 these tube-nosed birds are both marine and 

 carnivorous, and live on carrion, fish, and 

 any refuse they can pick up. They are 

 strong on the wing, and can pursue a 

 long-sustained flight. Remains of birds 

 of this group have been found in the 

 lower Miocene strata of France : to-day 

 they are found to have a wide range, more 

 especially throughout the Southern Seas. 

 The albatrosses head the list, and are 

 characterized by the extreme length and 

 narrowness of the wing, also by an ex- 

 ceedingly large number of quills in the wing ; 

 these birds are included in one genus 

 (Diomedea), are all of large size, and mainly 

 frequent the southern tropical and sub- 

 tropical seas ; one species, however, ranges 

 as far north as Alaska. It is an interesting 

 geological fact that the remains of a fossil 

 albatross have been found in the Pliocene 

 deposits of the east coast of England. The 

 wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) finds 

 its true home in the South Seas ; its average 

 26 



