334 ^^^ Albatross 



square, although I beheve I have seen them swallow 

 larger pieces than that. 



But the peculiarly distinctive feature of the Alba- 

 tross is its great pair of wings. They have three 

 joints, and when wide-spread the front edges make 

 almost perfect right angles with the body. And 

 their extent from tip to tip is sometimes as much as 

 sixteen feet, or over five yards. Their breadth from 

 front to back is about eight inches, but at the last 

 joint they begin to taper off to a point. The colour 

 of the upper part of the wing is invariably a dark 

 brown, which often extends across the back, while 

 that of the rest of the body is pure white. 



The feathers are very thick and deep, and beneath 

 them there is a coating of the softest down, as fine 

 as the best of that obtained from the eider duck. 

 But I regret to say that this pure soft white fluff 

 is the home of a multitude of parasites, from which 

 none of the birds are free. The flesh of the bird is, 

 as might be expected from its habits, exceedingly 

 tough ; in colour it is nearly black, becoming quite 

 so after a brief exposure to the air. Also it has a 

 very rank oily flavour of stale fish, making it quite 

 uneatable to the ordinary person. French sailors, 

 however, with the culinary aptitude of their nation, 

 hang it until it is nearly putrid, and then make stews 

 of it, which they profess to find excellent. 



The Albatross seldom obtains a meal of fresh fish, 

 his movements in or near the water not being smart 

 enough to secure them. Consequently he is confined 

 to feeding upon offal. And such offal ! The carcase 

 of a whale a few days after death as it floats upon 

 the sea is extraordinarily offensive, but whenever 

 one is found it is always the centre of a clamorous 

 multitude of sea-birds, and when this happens to be 



