CHOCOLATE ALBATROSS. 26l 



blow up into bladders : they also use the bones of 

 the wings for tobacco-pipes and needle-cases. Their 

 flesh is very hard and dry. Their cry is harsh and 

 disagreeable, not unlike the braying of an Ass. 



They are said to breed in the southern regions 

 about .September ; their nests are formed of earth on 

 the ground, and are from one to three feet in height, 

 and indented at the apex : the egg is larger than that 

 of a Goose, white, marked with dull spots at the larger 

 end, and is thought to be very good food, and possesses 

 the singular property of the white not becoming hard 

 by boiling. When the female is sitting the male 

 supplies her abundantly with food, and during this 

 time she is so tame as to allow herself to be pushed 

 off the nest, while her eggs are taken from her ; 

 though when attempted to be seized at other times, 

 both sexes make a vigorous resistance with their beaks, 

 when not suffering from the effects of repletion. 



CHOCOLATE ALBATROSS. 



(Diomedea spadicea.) 



Di. rostra albido, corpore saturate, castaneo-fasco, abdomine pal- 

 lido, facie alisque subtus albis. 



Albatross with a whitish beak, the body dark chesnut-brown, the 

 abdomen pale, the face and wings beneath white- 



Diomedea spadicea. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 568. Lath. Lid. Orn. 

 2. 790. 



Albatross de la Chine. Buff. PL Enl. 963. 



Chocolate Albatross. Lath. Gen. Syn. 5. 30S. Lath. Gen. His: 

 x. 52. 



