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DIOMEDEIDiE — THE ALBATROSSES — DIOMEDEA. 



347 



Diomedea eznlans. 



THE WANDEBING ALBATBOSS. 



Diomedm rxutans, LiNS. S. X. ctl. 10, 1. 1758, 132; t-d. 12, 1. 1766, 214. — NiiT. Man. W. B. 



1834, 340. —Gould, B. Au.str. VII. 1848, pi. 38. — Lawu. in Baiiil's B. N. Am. 1858, 821. 



— lUiUD, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 1)30. — CouK.s, Pr. riiiliid. Acad. 186ti, 175. — Kidiikk, Bull. 



r. S. Nat. Mils. no. 2, 1875, lU ; no. 3, 187t), 11. — Sii,. l!ei), "Challenger," Zool. II. 1881, 147. 

 Diomedra spadicca, Gmki.. S. X. I. ii. 17S8, 508 (= young). 

 ? Diomedea udusia, Tstiiuni, ,1. f. O. 185G, 157, no. 7. 



Hah. Soutlierii oceans in geiienil, but occnsioiuilly wamlerinf,' north of the equator. Near 

 Dioppe, France, and near Antwerp, Belf^iuni, September, 18.33 (HoiE, " Isis," 1835, p. 259) ; three 

 .<]iriniens near Chauuiont, Fnince, November, 1758 (DE(iL. & CJekbk, "Orn. Eur." 2d e<l. 1867, 

 |). ;J()8) ; ? coa.st of Nonvaj-, one specimen (Brunn. "Orn. Bor." 1764, p. 31). "Bare and acci- 

 dental in the Middle State.s" (BosaI'arte) ; "Accidental to the coasts of the central i)art of the 

 I'nioii" (Nuttam,). Tantpa Bay, Florida?' 



Sp. Char. Adult : Prevailing color yellowish white, the remiges dusky, and, except in very 

 old binls, the larger wing-covert.s and dor.sal region more or less barred irregularly with blackish. 

 Hill white (Kidder), or "delicate jjinky white, inclining to yellow at the tip" (Gould) ; iris 

 "very dark blue tojiurple" (Kidder), hv "very dark brown" (Oould); feet "white, with a pale- 

 !>lue tint" (Kidder), or "pinky white" (Gould) ; "eyelash bare, fle.sh.j, u;id of a pale green " 

 (Gould). Young: Prevailing color dark fuliginous or blackish brown, older individuals varied 

 with white according to age, the fore-i)art of the head and lining of the wings always more or less 

 white. Bill "pinkish white" (Kidder). 



Total length, 47.(IO-55.(K> inches; e.xtent, about U)-12 feet (average, 10 feet 1 inch, /We 

 Gould) ; average weight, 17 lbs., ma.vimum weight about 20 lbs. 



The Wandering Albatross of the Southern raciti(! and Atlantic oceans has probably 

 but little claim to a place in the fauna of Xortli America. I am unable to find any 

 well-authenticated instance where this bird is known to have been taken in the 

 vicinity either of the Atlantic or of the I'acitic! coast of tlie United States. Numerous 

 .specimens were collected in the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, both frcn the Atlantic 

 and the Pacific oceans ; and from the numerous and careful records of Dr. Pickering 

 it is evidently both the most numerous and the most widely diffused of its family. 

 It was first met with in the Atlantic January 22, in lat. 40° S., on the passage from 

 Kio de Janeiro to the Kio Negro, occasionally afterward to Cape Horn, and as far 

 south as the criii.se extended. It seemed much more common in the Pacific, espe- 

 cially on the passage to Callao. On the 4th of Aj)ril, in lat. 42° S., numbers of these 

 birds were taken with hooks and lines, their abundance being in all probability due 

 to the fact that the ship was then j)assing over whaling-ground. 



^Ir. E. L. Layard mentions meeting with them in great numbers in the Antarctic 

 Ocean, lat. 44" S. ; they were chiefly young birds. This species is given by Mr. 

 G. K. Gray as one of those occurring in New Zealand. 



Captain F. W. Hutton (" Ibis," 18(55) states that the food of this Albatross consists 

 entirely of the oceanic mollusca, small crustaceans, medusa), and the refuse thrown 

 overboard from ships. No remains of fish were found in its stomach. It always 

 settles down slowly to eat, and can only be caught with the hook when the vessel is 



' I have recently boMi informed, on what I consider reliable authority, of the capture of a specimen of 

 thi^ )i]iecies in Tamim Bay, Florida, my inforninnt l)aving the \w\v\ in his {xisses^ion. Up to this writing, 

 liowcvi'r, he has lieen unable to get the specimen from a Ixix which had been placed in storage during hi.s 

 nlis( IRC from the city. — R. B, 



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