496 



PEOCELLAEIID^ 



DIOMEDEA 



Iris brown ; bill white with a pinkish tinge becoming yellowish 

 when dried ; legs white with a bluish tinge. 



Length of a very large male 53'0 ; wing 27'0 ; length of out- 

 stretched wing 55 ; spread of wings from tip to tip when out- 

 stretched 10 ft. 1 in. ; tail 9'5 ; culmen 8'0 ; tarsus 4-75 ; middle 

 toe 6'5. 



The largest bird measured by Mr. Green, who had had a good 

 deal of experience, was 11 ft. 4 in. across the wings. The weight of 

 an adult male is from 16 to 19 lbs. 



A young bird is uniform brown above with the wings darker, 

 almost black ; the face including a narrow band across the forehead, 

 space round the eyes and throat white, below brown like the back. 



Pig. 152. — Head of Diomedea eaulans. v ^ 



paler and slightly freckled on the abdomen ; under wing-coverts and 

 edge of the wing along the distal end of the radius white. As the 

 bird grows older the brown feathers are gradually replaced by 

 freckled ones and the coverts of the wing become parti-coloured. 



A series of young birds measured in the flesh were from 39 to 

 41 in. in length, the wings from 49 to 51 in. and the spread from tip 

 to tip of the wings across the back from 9 ft. 6 in. to 9 ft. Tin. 



The nestling is covered with pure white silky down and has at 

 the tip of the mandibles according to Layard, a hard white china- 

 like tumid sheath. 



Distribution. — The Wandering Albatros is found in the Southern 

 Atlantic and Pacific Oceans including the seas about New Zealand, 

 Patagonia and South Africa ; its usual range is between the 30th 

 and 60th parallels but it is no doubt exceptionally found beyond 



