ALB ATROSES AUKS. 259 



the surface of Laysan, the young in some places being as thick as they could 

 stand. He writes : " It is very curious to watch the love-making antics of 

 the birds. First they stand face to face, then they begin nodding and bow- 

 ing vigorously, and then rub their bills together with a whistling cry ; after 

 this they begin shaking their heads and snapping their bills with marvellous 

 rapidity, occasionally lifting one wing, straightening themselves out, and 

 blowing out their breasts ; then they put their bill under their wings or toss 

 it in the air, with a groaning scream, and walk round each other, often for 

 fifteen minutes at a time. They are quite fearless, and do not move out of 

 the way. When Mr. Freeth was going to the guano-field on his tram- 

 way-line, he had to send a boy ahead to clear the tracks of the young 

 albatroses." 



Mr. D. le Souef gives a very interesting account of a visit to Albatros 

 Island in Bass' Straits, Australia : " The nests of the cautious albatros 

 (Thalassogeron catitus) are situated at varying distances one from the other, 

 from a foot upwards, some on the ground, and others again on the uneven 

 side or top of a point of rock. Some of the birds had come on shore to rest 

 only, while a few of them had their heads turned back and partially under 

 their wings, and were asleep. When one wished to fly it had to walk to the 

 edge of the cliff, and go off with a downward sweep ; but when the wind was 

 blowing very strong the bird could then rise, facing it, from a point of rock. 

 One bird 1 found in a depression about 60 feet across and 30 feet deep, with 

 steep sides, and as it could neither climb or fly out I caught it and climbed 

 up the bank with the bird under rny arm, and took it back to the " rookery. ' 

 On approaching very close to the birds, they would partly stand up on their 

 nest, leaning backwards and apparently resting the tail on the edge of the 

 nest, and then facing the intruder. When one was within two feet of them, 

 they would utter a loud cackling noise, shaking their heads up and down, 

 and opening and shutting their beaks rapidly. A considerable noise was 

 made by the mandibles coming together, and at the same time a strong- 

 smelling oily secretion was thrown up. In order to secure an egg, the beak 

 of the bird was caught hold of with one hand and the egg taken up with the 

 other, and on stepping back the beak was let go again. The bird would then 

 sit or stand on its nest for some time afterwards. The birds often had diffi- 

 culty in alighting on a particular spot, when the wind was blowing strongly 

 on to their breeding-ground from the sea, as they always flew against the 

 wind when desiring to alight, and I have watched them sometimes try 

 seven or eight times before they could successfully accomplish their object. 

 They came up with considerable force, holding their heads well back, and 

 stretching out their expanded feet at the same time, and the fact of 

 having their win^s half -closed gave them a very ungainly appearance when 

 alighting." 



The auks are birds of the Northern Seas. They form a peculiar group, and 

 are usually associated with the gulls, from which birds, however, they differ 

 in many important characters, though in their osteology the 

 two orders have many points in common. Externally, how- The Auks. 

 ever, the differences are apparent at a glance. The gulls are Order Alcce. 

 splendid flyers, but are no great divers, while diving is one 

 of the chief features of an auk's economy. Again, the gulls make a nest of 

 some sort, the auks seldom or never, for the latter birds select a bare ledge 

 or cleft of a cliff, or the broken rocks, on which to lay their egg, the colour 

 and markings of which are entirely different from those of any gull or tern. 



