114 EDWARD A. WILSON. 



The colouring of the soft parts is as follows : 



Upper bill, black entirely, except for a band of pale yellow along the centre of the 



cnlmen from the edge of the feathers to the tip, where the pale yellow becomes orange 



pink. 

 Mandible, black along the cutting edge, otherwise rich ochreous yellow, with a narrow 



streak of orange red at the base, turning up to the angle of the mouth. Tip wholly 



black. 

 Iris, rich brown. 



As in the case of Thalassogeron chlororhynchus this bird must be seen first at a moderate 

 distance for recognition, since it is essential to make out the distribution of the yellow 

 and black upon the bill. Having once done this it is not difficult to recognise it 

 much farther away, though it requires care to avoid confusing it with young, dark- 

 billed, grey-headed examples of D. melanophrys. There are, nevertheless, some very 

 puzzling forms of albatross which are occasionally seen. For instance, on October 20th, 

 1901, we had a bird with the typical yellow culmen on a very dark beak, but the head 

 and neck, instead of being wholly grey, were grey with a pure white crown, while the 

 fore-neck and throat were also white, making the grey collar incomplete. Again on 

 October 23rd, 1901, we saw a similar bird with the crown, cheeks and throat white, but 

 with some grey around the eyes, and an incomplete grey collar round the upper neck. 

 The depth of the grey on the head also varies in the apparently adult, sometimes 

 approaching whiteness, indeed, the heads in a few were wholly white, and in others 

 very dark grey. The blackness of the beak also varies, but in every case the yellow 

 culmen is distinct, reaching from the orange tip of the bill to the nasal feathers. 



We had Th. culminatus with us constantly in the last ten days of October and 

 throughout the first half of November, 1901 (between 70 E. and 140 K, about 50 to 

 60 S.). It disappeared as we approached the ice, but joined us again the day we left it. 

 We saw it off the Macquarie Islands, and it accompanied us thence on our way to New 

 Zealand. In March, 1904, we met with it on our way north from the Antarctic (68 S., 

 157 E.) and kept it with us to the Auckland Islands. We saw it constantly between 

 New Zealand and Cape Horn in June and in July, and although we did not see it in the 

 Magellan Straits it appeared again occasionally on the Atlantic side. We saw no 

 example further north than 45 S. in 45 W. Its recognised range covers the Southern 

 Oceans, and it is known to go as far north as Central America on the Pacific side. 



THALASSOGERON CHLORORHYNCHUS. 



The Yellow-billed Albatross. 



Diomedea clilororhyiiclios, Gm. Ryst. Nat. i. (1788), p. 508. 



Thalassogeron chlororhynchus, Ridgw., Man. N. Amer. Birds (1887). p. 53 ; Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 

 xxv. (1896), p. 451, ibique citata. 



WE first encountered Thalassogeron chlororhynchus in the South Atlantic Ocean on 

 September 22, 1901 (35 S. 14 W.). It is quite recognisable on the wing by the character- 



