THE SEA-FLIER3. 20/ 



THE SOOTY OR BLACK ALBATROSS. 



The Sooty or Black Albatross {Dwmedea or Phcebetria fuliginosd) is principally of a dark sooty 

 grey ; the head and wings are brown. In this species the tail is wedge-shaped. 



The Sooty or Black Albatross, one of the commonest species, is universally spread over all 

 temperate latitudes south of the equator. According to Latham, these birds breed on the Island of 

 Tristan d'Acunha, and are gregarious, many of them building their nests close to each other; in 

 the area of half an acre were reckoned upwards of a hundred. The nest is of mud, raised five or 

 six inches, and slightly depressed at the top ; when the young are more than half-grown they are 

 covered with a whitish down ; they stand on their respective hillocks like statues, until approached 

 close, when they make a strange clattering with their beaks, and if touched squirt a deluge of fetid 

 oily fluid from the nostrils. " The Black Albatross is common," says Layard, " along the south 

 coast of Africa, at a little distance from the land. It is fond of hovering over a ship's deck, and 

 I have obtained specimens by sending a small rifle bullet through them, thus killing them instantly ; 

 if struck with shot, their feathers are so dense that they seldom receive a death wound, but drift 

 seaward and perish miserably. I have never observed any of the other Albatrosses hover over the 

 deck as this bird constantly does ; I have seen it almost touch a man on the royal yard. On these 

 occasions it seems actuated by curiosity, and keeps turning its head from side to side, scanning 

 everything with its brilliant dark eye.'' The eggs of this species resemble those of D. exulans, but 

 are somewhat smaller, being about four inches two lines long by two inches six lines broad. 



All the birds belonging to this family are oceanic, nevertheless each species seems to confine its 

 occupancy within certain zones or climates. They are less numerously met with in the torrid zone 

 than in the more temperate and colder regions, and are more abundant in the southern than in the 

 northern hemisphere. During the breeding season they resort to the coasts, but the greater part of 

 their life is spent upon the open sea. They can scarcely be said to walk, but they swim with ease 

 and buoyancy, still they seldom alight upon the water, passing by far the greater part of their lives 

 upon the wing. From the deck of a ship they may be seen pertinaciously accompanying it for whole 

 days together, sweeping constantly along with an unbroken equable pace, mounting gently over the 

 crests of the highest waves, plunging headlong into the valleys between them, only staying their course 

 now and then for a moment, to enable them to pick up any stray morsel thrown from the ship, or seen 

 floating upon the water. They are less capable of diving than most other sea-birds, probably from the 

 difficulty they must encounter in submerging their soft thick plumage. They are even more saucily 

 obtrusive than the Albatrosses, and will fearlessly seize upon any proffered bait, even when they have 

 seen their fellow caught with a hook and line. Their food, besides fishes, consists of any animal 

 substances that may be found floating on the waves. Their voracity is almost insatiable ; with the 

 prospect of a feast before them, they think nothing of danger, and will even allow themselves to be 

 knocked down with sticks, or caught with the hand. The Petrels breed in the vicinity of the sea, 

 generally upon solitary and almost inaccessible rocks. They can hardly be said to make a nest, but 

 lay their eggs on the bare ground, and immediately commence the work of incubation. Their eggs 

 are broad in proportion to their length, coarse-shelled, and of a pure white, without any markings. 

 The young when hatched are covered with grey down ; they grow very slowly, but are carefully tended 

 by their parents, who defend them by ejecting fetid oil from their crops in the face of the assailant. 

 After the young are able to fly, the families distribute themselves over the surface of the sea. They 

 are sociable birds, and may sometimes be seen keeping together in considerable flocks. 



The TRUE PETRELS (Proccl/aria) in their general appearance present a certain resemblance to 



