110 EDWARD A. WILSON. 



of straw ami stubble plastered up with clay (Sir Joseph Hooker) ; they also breed 

 upon the flat ground, according to Mr. Eaton (Phil. Trans. 168 (1879), p. 145). 



We occasionally noticed the pink stains on the sides of the neck in this bird, 

 which are remarked upon by Mr. Eaton. 



DIOMEDEA EEGIA. 



The Royal Albatross. 



Diomedea regia, Buller, Trans. N. Zeal. Inst. xxiii. (1891), p. 230; Sharpe, Rep. 'Southern Cross' Coll. 

 (1902), p. 161, ibiqttr. citato. 



DIOMEDEA CHIONOPTERA. 



Tin' Snowy Albatross. 

 Diomndea chionoptera, Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., xxv. (189G), p. 443. 



THE former is the whiter of these, the two largest forms of albatross ; it is an 

 inhabitant mainly of the Southern Indian Ocean, but has been reported also from the 

 South Atlantic. 



As we did not succeed in obtaining specimens of either D. chionoptera or D. regia, 

 it is not easy to speak confidently of the occurrence of these birds under one name or 

 the other. 



On certain occasions we obtained a view close enough to satisfy ourselves as to the 

 identity of D. chionoptera, if complete whiteness of the whole wing except the 

 primaries be a sufficient criterion to distinguish it from D. regia. And notwith- 

 standing the doubt that must necessarily attach itself to observations unconfirmed by 

 specimens, it may be worth while to record the following. 



In the South Atlantic we saw a number of the larger albatrosses, but I believe that 

 every one of them was to be referred to D. exulans. In the largest of all there was 

 a narrow black tip to the tail, and this apparently is never seen in either D. regia 

 or D. chionoptera. 



In the Southern Indian Ocean, on the other hand, we constantly saw birds which 

 appeared to have less black on the wings than seems consistent with D. exulans. We 

 could not be certain, however, save on a few occasions. For example, on October 

 23rd, two adults with black primaries only came round the ship, and the tail in 

 each case was wholly white. On October 24th another appeared, exactly answering to 

 chionoptera, and after this we saw similar birds every two or three days, the last 

 in 52 S. 110 E., before turning south towards the ice. 



On March llth, 1904 (56 S. 164 K), we saw what we believed to be an 

 example of D. regia, and, as we had an adult D. exulans in sight as well with which to 

 compare it, probably in this case we were right. We saw others a little further north 

 each day until we reached the Auckland Islands. 



