THE WANDERING ALBATROSS 



65 



Family Dioniedeidce. 

 Nostrils lateral separated by the wide culmen ; first primary 

 longest. 



Key to the Genera. 



a. Tail short, rounded. Mandible plain. 



Base of ridge shield of beak (eulminicorn) broad 



and joined to side shield (latericorn). Diomedea 



Base of eulminicorn narrow separated by mem- 



brane from the latericorn. 

 b. Tail long, cuncate. Mandible grooved. 



Thalassogeron. 

 Phoabetria. 



After Gould. 



Wandering Albatross, Young and Old: Diomedea exulann. 



The Wandering Albatross. 



Diomedea exidans. 



Southern ocean generally. 



White; back from the base of the neck banded with narrow trans- 

 verse undulating dark lines; wings slaty-black; lesser wing-coverts more 

 or less white in inner webs, middle and greater coverts edged with 

 white, primaries black; tail white, with dark marks near the tip. Total 

 length 42 inches, wing 2.5.5, tail 8.3, bill from gape 7, tarsus 4.S. 



Nest open circular structures made of soil, grass &e., varying 

 in height from a few inches to about two feet, with a shallow 

 egg cavity, about a foot in diameter. The single egg is dull 

 white, with brownish markings on the larger end, and has a 

 slightly granular shell; it measures about 4.90 x 3.05 inch. 



