504 



PBOCELLAEIID^ 



THALASSOGEEON 



The Yellow-nosed Mollymawk is not uncommon in the Cape seas 

 and was obtained by Layard off the southern coast of the Colony 

 many years ago. It sometimes comes into the bays and harbours 

 along the coast though not nearly so frequently as the true Molly- 

 mawk (Z>. melanophys). There is an example in the South African 

 Museum, obtained at Simons Bay, while Eickard has noticed it off 

 Port BUzabeth and East London. Up the western coast it is 

 recorded by Schrenck from Angra Pequena in German South-west 

 Africa. 



Fig. 155. — Bills of (a) Thalassogeron culminatus, and (6) Tlmlassogeron 

 chlororhynchus, from above, to show the distinction in the shape of the oul- 

 minicorn. About i. 



Closely allied to this species is T. eximius, Verrill [Trans. 

 Connecticut Acad., ix., p. 440 (1896)] , described from Gough Island 

 in the South Atlantic. It is similar in plumage, but lacks the 

 transverse bar of yellow at the base of the lower mandible. Should 

 it prove to be really distinct it will probably be found in the Cape 

 seas. During the recent voyage of the "Scotia" of the "Scottish 

 National Antarctic " Expedition, it was not met with. 



Habits. — So far as its habits at sea are concerned the Yellow- 

 nosed MoUymawk does not diifer from other Albatroses. During the 

 breeding season it resorts to Nightingale Island, one of the Tristan 

 group, where it was observed by Moseley on October 17. The 



