78 THE INFANCY OF ANIMALS 



is also used as a weapon of offence, both by the nestlings 

 and adults, being squirted out from the mouth and nostrils 

 at any unwelcome intruder on their privacy. Unappe- 

 tising as such a diet may seem, and unsuitable as one 

 would suppose it to be for tender stomachs, it never- 

 theless proves to possess most wonderful sustaining 

 powers — for young petrels. At any rate such is the case 

 with the young of the mighty albatross, whose period 

 of infancy furnishes one of the most extraordinary stories 

 in the whole history of birds. 



Briefly, the nestling, at any rate of the species known 

 in common speech as the wandering albatross (JDiomedia 

 exulans), and the nearly related royal albatross {D. regid), 

 is at first fed assiduously on this oil until it becomes a 

 mass of fat, even exceeding the adults in weight ! This is 

 the consummation apparently desired by the parents, for 

 they forthwith cease their attentions, and sally forth to 

 spend the winter roaming the ocean, leaving their down- 

 clad and helpless offspring to the tender mercies of fate 

 for the space of about four months. No wonder, after 

 this, that not more than five per cent, survive! When 

 at last these very indifferent parents return to the nest, 

 if fortune has favoured them, they find the youngster 

 standing on its edge, fully fledged, but helpless still. 



From the scanty information which h^s with difficulty 

 been gleaned on this subject, it would seem that the young 

 bird soon acquires the power of flight, and then accom- 

 panies his parents to sea, there to be instructed in the 

 art of catching squids, which seem to form the greater 

 part of the diet of the albatrosses. The story of the 

 long fast of the nestling wandering albatross has been 

 doubted, and further confirmation would certainly be 

 welcome. But there is nothing inherently improbable 



