498 PROCELLARIID^; DIOMEDEA 



about the Cape seas throughout the winter months till November, 

 when it leaves our shores for its breeding places in the South 

 Atlantic. It only occasionally comes inside Table Bay but is 

 generally to be seen a few miles out at sea. 



The majestic flight of this bird as it sails over the waves with 

 its narrow pointed wings held almost motionless has always been 

 a source of wonder and admiration to travellers. An explanation 

 of this mysterious power of continuous movement without any 

 apparent motion of the wings or exertion on the bird's part is 

 given by Mr. A. C. Baines (Nature, xl., p. 9, 1889). He points 

 out that the birds usually rise in a slanting direction against the 

 wind, then make a turn in a large circle during which one wing 

 points downwards the other upwards and finally make a rapid 

 descent down the wind. As the velocity of the wind near the 

 surface of the water is diminished by the friction of the waves, the 

 bird as it rises against the wind enters currents of gradually 

 increasing velocity so that the loss of velocity consequent on rising 

 is partially or perhaps, when the wind is strong, wholly made 

 good and the bird just gains energy of position which is converted 

 into energy of motion when descending. Furthermore, there is 

 no doubt that it is only when the wind is fairly fresh that the 

 Albatros can continue the sailing flight for any length of time ; 

 when the wind drops they will be observed to begin to flap their 

 wings much more frequently until, when watched from a steamer, 

 they are often left behind. 



The Albatroses feed chiefly on cephalopods (squids and octopus) 

 the horny beaks of which are generally to be found in their 

 stomachs, they also eat fish and other marine animals as well as 

 galley refuse thrown out from ships; they do not dash down on 

 to the surface from above, neither do they dive below, but settle 

 down gently on to the water and take their time about collecting 

 their food ; in order to start off again in flight they commence by 

 running along the surface of the water with outstretched wings 

 in order to obtain sufficient impetus to carry them up into the air. 



The Wandering Albatros breeds on Tristan da Cunha and 

 Gough Islands in the South Atlantic while the closely allied species 

 D. chionoptera resorts to the Crozet Isles, Prince Edward Island 

 and Kerguelen. The nest is a conical elevation about 18 in. high 

 and 36 in. in diameter, while the bowl at the top measures about 

 18 in. across and is about 5 in. in depth. It is built up of grass 

 tufts and moss beaten in with earth. Only one egg is laid and the 



