Bii'ds inhabiting the Southern Ocean. 279 



Town to St. Helena, in about latitude 26° S., one flew past the 

 ship in a direct line southwards, without even stopping to look 

 at us ; and I suspect that it had either been caught and turned 

 loose again after two or three days' imprisonment, or that it had 

 followed a ship out of its usual haunts, and was now making 

 the best of its way back again. 



They are very common south of latitude 40° S., and monopo- 

 lize nearly the whole of the Prince Edward Islands and the 

 south-east portion, or lee-side, as the sealers call it, of Kergue- 

 len's Land, to which places they retii-e to breed in October. 

 The nest, which is always placed on high table lands, is in the 

 shape of the frustum of a cone, with a slightly-hollowed top, 

 and is made of grass and mud, which the birds obtain by dig- 

 ging a circular ditch, about two yards in diameter, and pushing 

 the earth towards the centre until it is about eighteen inches 

 high. In this nest the female bird lays one white egg, which is 

 not hatched until January. The nest of the Albatros has been 

 well described by Mr. Gould on the authority of Mr. Earle 

 and Dr. M'Cormick ; and I have mentioned it here only be- 

 cause Dr. Bree, who, in his 'Birds of Europe' (vol. iv. p. 120), 

 has given the latest account of this bird, has reproduced the 

 statement of Captain Carmichael, in his " Description of the 

 Island of Tristan d'Acunha," in the Twelfth volume of the 

 ' Transactions of the Linnean Society,' that it makes no nest ; 

 a statement which is certainly erroneous. 



At a certain time of the year between Febi'uary and June, 

 Mr. Harris cannot exactly say when, the old birds leave their 

 young and go to sea, and do not return until the next 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 in or near the nest the whole time, they turn it 

 out, and repair the nest for the next brood. The deserted 

 young ones are in good condition and very lively, frequently 

 being seen off their nests exercising their wings. When the 

 old birds return and take possession of their nest the young one 

 often remains outside, and nibbles at the head of the old one 

 until the feathers between the beak and the eye are removed, 

 and the skin made quite sore. The young birds do not go far 



