The Alabatross of Laysan 173 



They gathered about as we stopped to rest, even pulling at 

 our clothing with their mandibles, and pecking at our lug- 

 gage. If we olTered to a ich one oi the birds they retreated 

 somewhat, but .-on rturned, their curiosity getting the bet- 

 ter of them. 



About two years previous to our visit a party of foreign 

 plume-h iters landed on Laysan and for several months 

 made t^ slaughter of sea birds a business. Had they not 

 been interrupted, they probably would have exterminated the 

 entire cc'ony. As it was, thousands of sea birds were de- 

 stroyed, especially albatrosses. To-day there is about one- 

 sixth of the original albatross colony left, numbering approx- 

 imately 180,000 — and ito one who has never beheld .such 

 masses of birds, this colony is a wonderful sight. The level 

 ground that surrounds the lagoon is wholly occupied by them ; 

 and nearly every other part of the island, also, with the excep- 

 tion of the beaches, supports small colonies. 



The amount of guano deposited by the albatrosses and 

 other sea birds on this island has been estimated to be about 

 one hundred tons daily. For a number of years these guano 

 deposits were leased to a company in Honolulu, but later the 

 business was abandoned. A member of the company reports 

 that while the supply of guano is abundant, it is of low grade, 

 owing to the frequent rains that remove the ammonia. 



The albatrosses are said to begin nesting about the middle 

 of November. The one egg is laid on the ground, after which 

 the parent bird draws the sand or earth about her, forming a 

 platter-like nest, in which the young albatross, when 

 hatched, spends the early part of its life ; in fact, it does not 

 stray far away even after it is able to walk about. I once car- 

 ried a youngster some distance from its nest to see if it would 

 find its way back ; after it had' recovered from its fit of anger 

 at being disturbed, it slowly waddled home. During the 

 morning hours, the old birds feed the young, the food consist- 

 ing entirely of squid that have been partly digested by the 

 parent. 



When we landed on the island on April 24, the young alba- 



