148 BIRDS OF TTERKA DEL FUEGO 



" The huge Albatross appeared here to dread no interloper or 

 enemy; for their young were on the ground completely un- 

 covered, and the old ones were stalking around them. They 

 lay but one egg^ on the ground, where they form a kind of 

 nest by scraping the earth round it. As we approached them 

 they clapped their beaks with a very quick motion, which made 

 a great noise. This, and throwing up the contents of the 

 stomach, are the only means of offence and defence they seem 

 to possess. These birds are very helpless on the land, the 

 great length of their wings precluding them from rising up into 

 the air, unless they can get to a steep declivity. On the level 

 ground they were completely at our mercy." 



"In Auckland and Campbell Islands," says Dr. McCormick, 

 " the grass-covered declivities of the hills, above the thickets of 

 wood, are the spots selected by the Albatros for constructing its 

 nest, which consists of a mound of earth intermingled with 

 withered grass and leaves matted together, 18 in. in height, 

 6 ft. in circumference at the base, and 27 in. in diameter at the 

 top, in which only one egg is usually deposited ; for, after an 

 examination of more than a hundred nests, I met with two eggs 

 in the same nest in one solitary instance only. The eggs I had 

 an opportunity of weighing varied in weight from 14^ to 19 ozs., 

 thirty specimens giving an average weight of 17 ozs. ; colour, 

 white." 



" The Albatros, during the period of incubation, is frequently 

 found asleep, with its head under its wing. On the approach 

 of an intruder, it resolutely defends its egg, refusing to quit the 

 nest until forced off, when it slowty waddles away in an awkward 

 manner to a short distance, without attempting to take wing. 

 Its greatest enemy is a fierce species of Lestris, always on the 

 watch for the Albatros quitting its nest, when this rapacious 

 pirate instantly pounces down and devours the egg. So well is 

 the poor bird aware of the propensity of its foe, that it snaps the 

 mandibles of its beak violently together whenever it observes the 

 Lestris flying overhead." 



