348 



THE TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS — TUBINARES. 



moving slowly through the water, and when plenty of line can be paid out. Tlie best 

 bait is a piece of the rind of raw salt pork, as this is so tough that other birds cannot 

 get it off the hook, which usually catches in the curved end of the upper mandible. 

 The habits of the Albatross are diurnal, both on land and at sea ; and it is never known 

 to fly by night. It was rarely seen north of 30° south latitude. In April, 1854, 

 Captain Hutton met with a single bird in lat. 20° S. ; but from the manner in whicli 

 it was hastening directly south it was supposed to be a released prisoner. This Alba- 

 tross was found very common south of lat. 40° S. — monopolizing nearly the whole 

 of Prince Edward's Island and the southeastern portions of Kerguelen Island, whore 

 it retires tc breed in October. The nest is always jilaced on high table-land, and is 

 in the aha,\^ of a frustum of a cone, with a slightly hollow top ; it is made of grass 

 and mud, which the birds obtain by digging a circular ditch about two yards in diam- 

 eter, and pushing the earth toward the centre until it is about eighteen inches high, 

 lu this nest the female lays one white egg, which is not hatched until January. 



At a certain time of the year — between February and June — the old birds leave 

 their young, going to sea, and not returning until the following October, when they 

 arrive in large numbers. Each pair goes at once to its old nest, and after a little 

 fondling of the young one, which has remained near the nest the whole time, they 

 turn it out, and prepare the nest for incubation. The deserted young ones are usually 

 found in good condition and lively. When the old birds return, the young ones 

 usually keep about the parents, and nibble at their heads until the feathers between 

 the beak and the eyes are removed and the skin made quite sore. The young birds 

 do not go far from the land until the following year, and then accompany the old 

 ones to sea. How the young birds obtain their food has not been explained ; but it 

 is positively averred that no old birds are seen near the islands for several months 

 together. Captain Hutton is of the opinion that the young birds are of nocturnal 

 habit, and feed by night ; but in this he is not confirmed by the observations of liis 

 friend Mr. Harris — an engineer in the Royal Navy — who is also quite certain that 

 each bird revisits its own nest, and uses it again for its next brood. The instinct 

 which thus guides the Albatross, after its long wanderings, to return to its own nest, 

 cannot but be regarded as extremely remarkable. 



The flight of the Albatross, as with outstretched, motionless wings it sails over the 

 surface of the sea, is described as being truly majestic. At one time the bird rises 

 high in the air, and then with a bold sweep, inclined at an angle with the horizon, 

 descends until the tip of its wings just touches the crests of the waves as it skims 

 over them. When it sees something floating on the water, and prepares to alight, 

 the whole appearance of the bird is changed. Its wings are raised, its heatl thrown 

 back, its back drawn in, while its enormous feet are thrust out to their full extent ; 

 and with a hoarse croak it drops upon the water, where it floats like a cork on the 

 surface. In order to rise again, it stretches out its neck, and with great exertion of 

 the wings runs along the top of the water, until, having obtained a suflicient impetus, 

 it launches once more into the air. 



The Albatross is never seen to dive. When on deck it is unable to stand, and 

 cannot rise unless a strong wind is blowing, but lies helpless on its breast. When 

 first caught it ejects a quantity of oil. 



Mr. Howard Saunders (" Ibis," January, 186C) states that he has observed this 

 Albatross fly at night, both by moonlight, and afterward, in the summer twilight of 

 the Antarctic seas ; he has wat«hed these birds come sweeping out of space, wheel 

 over the main truck, and then disappear, without so much as one flap of their huge 

 wings. 



