THE ALBATROSS 



205 



figure : but these lead us a very short way 

 in its history; and our naturalists have thought 

 fit to say nothing more. However, I am apt 

 to believe this bird to be the same with that 

 described by Wicquefort, under the title of 

 the Alcatraz; its size, its colours, and its 

 prey, incline me to think so. He describes 

 it as a kind of great gull, as large in the 

 body as a goose, of a brown colour, with a 

 long bill, and living upon fish, of which they 

 kill great numbers. 



This bird is an inhabitant of the tropical 

 climates, and also beyond them as far as the 

 Straits of Magellan in the South seas. It is 

 one of the most fierce and formidable of the 

 aquatic tribe, not only living upon fish, but 

 also such small water-fowl as it can take by 

 surprise. It preys, as all the gull kind do, 

 upon the wing ; and chiefly pursues the 

 flying-fish, that are forced from the sea by the 

 dolphins. The ocean in that part of the 

 world presents a very different appearance 

 from the seas with which we are surrounded. 

 In our seas we see nothing but a dreary 

 expanse, rufiled by winds, and seeming for- 

 saken by every class of animated nature. 

 But the tropical seas, and the distant southern 

 latitudes beyond them, are all alive with birds 

 and fishes, pursuing and pursued. Every 

 various species of the gull kind are there seen 

 hovering on the wing, at a thousand miles' dis- 

 tance from the shore. The flying fish are every 

 moment rising to escape from their pursuers 

 of the deep, only to encounter equal dangers 

 in the air. Just as they rise the dolphin is 

 seen to dart after them, but generally in vain ; 

 the gull has more frequent success, and often 

 takes them at their rise ; while the albatross 

 pursues the gull, and obliges it to relinquish 



gressive motion of the animal is accomplished. The 

 exceedingly long wings which many of these birds pos- 

 sess, spoil the beauty of their figure when closed, as 

 they produce a thickness in the posterior part of the 

 body. It is when flying that they display themselves 

 to the greatest advantage; and they are endowed with 

 a wonderful strength to enable them to perform their 

 flights. When in 59 south latitude, where there is 

 scarcely any night as long as the sun is under the tropic 

 of Capricorn, we have seen the same petrels sailing on 

 the wing several days together without interruption. 

 The petrels do not dive after their food, but if it lies 

 only at a certain depth, they endeavour to seize it by 

 forcing part of their body under water. 



From what has been said, it appears, that the mere 

 presence of these birds is not a sure sign of the approach 

 of land. 



With respect to the incubation of these pelagic birds, 

 the French naturalists observe that the petrels flock in 

 immense numbers to the "Isles Malouines," along the 

 shores of which their eggs are deposited in such abun- 

 dance as to be a source of subsistence to the seamen 

 employed in the seal-fishery. They were also informed 

 Hiat these birds arrange their eggs with much order, 

 and, living as it were in a republic, exercise by turns 

 the function of incubation in this kind of temporary 

 establishment. Zoological Magazine, 



its prey ; so that the whole horizon presents 

 but one living picture of rapacity and eva- 

 sion. 



So much is certain ; but how far we are to 

 credit Wicquefort, in what he adds concern- 

 ing this bird, the reader is left to determine. 

 " As these birds, except when they breed, 

 live entirely remote from land, so they are 

 often seen, as it should seem, sleeping in the 

 air. At night, when they are pressed by 

 slumber, they rise into the clouds as high as 

 they can ; there, putting their head under one 

 wing, they beat the air with the other, and 

 seern to take their ease. After a time, how- 

 ever, the weight of their bodies, only thus 

 half supported, brings them down ; and they 

 are seen descending, with a pretty rapid 

 motion, to the surface of the sea. Upon this 

 they again put forth their efforts to rise ; and 

 thus alternately ascend and descend at their 

 ease. But it sometimes happens," says my 

 author, " that in these slumbering flights, 

 they are off their guard, and fall upon deck, 

 where they are taken." 



What truth there may be in this account I 

 will not take upon me to determine : but 

 certain it is, that few birds float upon the air 

 with more ease than the albatross, or support 

 themselves a longer time in that element. 

 They seem never to feel the accesses of 

 fatigue ; but night and day upon the wing, 

 are always prowling, yet always emaciated^ 

 and hungry. 



But though this bird be one of the most 

 formidable tyrants of the deep, there are some 

 associations which even tyrants themselves 

 form, to which they are induced either by 

 caprice or necessity. The albatross seems to 

 have a peculiar affection for the penguin, and 

 a pleasure in its society. They are always 

 seen to choose the same places for breeding ; 

 some distant uninhabited island, where the 

 ground slants to the sea, as the penguin is 

 not formed either for flying or climbing. In 

 such places their nests are seen together, as if 

 they stood in need of mutual assistance and 

 protection. Captain Hunt, who for some time 

 commanded at our settlement upon Falk- 

 land islands, assures me, that he was often 

 amazed at the union preserved between these 

 birds, and the regularity with which they 

 built together. In that bleak and desolate 

 spot, where the birds had long continued un- 

 disturbed possessors, and no way dreaded the 

 encroachment of men, they seemed to make 

 their abode as comfortable as they expected it 

 to be lasting. They were seen to build with 

 an amazing degree of uniformity; their nests 

 covering fields by thousands, and resembling 

 a regular plantation. In the middle, on high, 

 the albatross raised its nest, on heath, sticks, 

 and long grass, about two feet above the sur- 



