1873.] MR. K. SWINHOE ON A CHINESE ALBATROSS. 785 



no sign of youth about either of the birds ; but as they differed in 

 size, I hoped that they would turn out to be a pair. Unfortunately, 

 however, they both proved males on dissection. They reminded me 

 much of Diomedea nigripes, Aud., which I had procured at Amoy, 

 but were larger, and had larger and flesh-coloured bills. 



The smaller specimen measured in length 33 inches ; wing from 

 carpus to tip 19|, reaching one inch beyond elbow-tip and about 

 one inch beyond tail ; expanse of wings 7 feet 1 inch. Bare por- 

 tion of tibia to joint 2 inches ; tarse 3 - 8 ; middle toe and claw 5 "3 ; 

 expanse of foot across toes 5 inches. Legs and feet blackish, deeper 

 on tarse, and deepest on toes and webs. Iris deep brown. Bill and 

 inside of mouth pale purplish pink, dertrum horn-coloured, all 

 lightly washed with blackish. Length of upper mandible from basal 

 edge 4*8 ; lower, ditto 4 , 5, lower to gape 5 - 7. Tail 6'25, rounded, 

 of 12 rectrices, the outermost -8 shorter than the centrals. 



The larger male was one inch longer in entire length. Wing 19*1 ; 

 expanse of wings 7 feet 1| inch, 2-25 beyond the elbow, 1 inch 

 beyond tail-tip. Bill to basal edge 5 inches ; lower mandible 4 - 7, 

 to gape 6 inches, depth 17. Bare part of tibia 2 inches ; tarse 3-7 ; 

 middle toe aud claw 5*35 ; expanse of toes 54. 



The entire plumage of both the above birds was of a sooty brown, 

 blacker on the head, hind neck, wings, and tail, aud browner on the 

 back. They both proved adult males on dissection, and seemed to 

 have finished breeding. The right testis was \ inch long, white, 

 and oval ; the left | inch long, °1 in uniform breadth, and black. 

 Proventriculus in the one containing feathers, in the other a few 

 Ascarides and bits of seaweed with tips like the hooked beaks of 

 some small birds. The bronchi bulge, go downwards and sidewards, 

 then bend under the ribs on each side into a large globe, pressing 

 between itself and the ribs as each enters the lung at the back. In 

 the larger bird the globular swelling at the end of the bronchus was 

 larger and flatter, showing, I presume, an older bird. Trachea with 

 uniform broadish rings intercalated with membrane of equal breadth 

 till about half an inch above its furcation, when the rings become 

 narrower and closer-set ; furca margined with two strong crescentic 

 rings on either side, with a membrane between it and each bron- 

 chus ; rings of last as broad as in trachea ; rings of both trachea and 

 bronchi entire. 



I procured two more of the same birds from Chinese fishermen ; 

 and Mr. Campbell of the lighthouse sent me the fifth and last on 

 the 22nd June. It had been caught on his island. One of these 

 had a rather darker bill than the rest, and I was in hopes that it 

 would turnout a female ; but the whole five that I procured all 

 proved males on dissection, and all had the contorted bronchi of 

 maturity. All were in a very exhausted state, and soon succumbed : 

 one, however, was somewhat stronger than the rest, and sat on his 

 tarsal knees with his paws raised in front above the ground. He 

 sometimes held his head up and moaned, and then went through 

 the movements of swallowing, as those at Amoy used to (see ' Ibis,' 

 1863, p. 432). When seated at rest with closed wings, the wing-tips 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1873, No. L. f>0 



