THE ALBATROSS IN STORMS AT SEA. 363 



off from its top with the greatest ease, whereas in a 

 calm sea they have great difficulty in rising" at all in 

 consequence of the great length of their wings. 

 Albatrosses, we regret to say, are frequently caught 

 by passengers and others, from the decks of sailing 

 ships, by trailing a baited hook astern, w T hich the poor 

 birds dart down upon, and so hook themselves. When 

 brought on board they are, as those who have seen 

 it tell us, generally quite incapable of taking wing 

 from the deck, where they tumble about in a helpless 

 condition, and if not released, soon die. 



These birds are said sometimes to follow a ship for 

 days and even for weeks together ; and Mr. Gould, the 

 well-known author of many splendid ornithological 

 works of engravings, is of opinion that they often 

 perform the circuit of the globe on the wing; they 

 are said to be both nocturnal as well as diurnal in 

 their flight. In appearance they show an immense 

 stretch of pinion, and fly after the manner of a gigantic 

 gannet, which they much resemble when seen on the 

 wing. In colour they are generally brown on the 

 back and upper side of the wings, but pure w r hite 

 beneath, so that they seem quite a different colour 

 according as they present a view of the back or breast, 

 to the beholder, in their flight. 



"The fiercer the gale, the more motionless are its 

 wings, and the more easily does it circle round and 

 Professor Hutton's theory is that in soaring flight, the 

 wings are inclined upwards, in the direction of 

 flight." Thus they ascend, much on the same 

 principle as a child's kite; the momentum of their 



* Paper read by Messrs. Ashworth and Le Soueff and published in 

 the Victoria Field Naturalists' Magazine, Jan. 1895, p. 139 



