114 EDWARD A. WILSON. 
The colonring of the soft parts is as follows :— 
Upper bill, black entirely, except for a band of pale yellow along the centre of the 
culmen from the edge of the feathers to the tip, where the pale yellow becomes orange 
ink. 
Mandible, black along the cutting edge, otherwise rich ochreous yellow, with a narrow 
streak of orange red at the base, turning up to the angle of the mouth. Tip wholly 
black. 
Iris, rich brown. 
As in the case of Thalassogeron chlororhynchus this bird must be seen first at a moderate 
distance for recognition, since it is essential to make out the distribution of the yellow 
and black upon the bill. Having once done this it is not difficult to recognise it 
much farther away, though it requires care to avoid confusing it with young, dark- 
billed, grey-headed examples of D. melanophrys. There are, nevertheless, some very 
puzzling forms of albatross which are occasionally seen. For instance, on October 20th, 
1901, we had a bird with the typical yellow culmen on a very dark beak, but the head 
and neck, instead of being wholly grey, were grey with a pure white crown, while the 
fore-neck and throat were also white, making the grey collar incomplete. Again on 
October 23rd, 1901, we saw a similar bird with the crown, cheeks and throat white, but 
with some grey around the eyes, and an incomplete grey collar round the upper neck. 
The depth of the grey on the head also varies in the apparently adult, sometimes 
approaching whiteness, indeed, the heads in a few were wholly white, and in others 
very dark grey. The blackness of the beak also varies, but in every case the yellow 
culmen is distinct, reaching from the orange tip of the bill to the nasal feathers. 
We had 7h. culminatus with us constantly in the last ten days of October and 
throughout the first half of November, 1901 (between 70° E. and 140° E., about 50° to 
60°S.). It disappeared as we approached the ice, but joined us again the day we left it. 
We saw it off the Macquarie Islands, and it accompanied us thence on our way to New 
Zealand. In March, 1904, we met with it on our way north from the Antarctic (68°S., 
157° E.) and kept it with us to the Auckland Islands. We saw it constantly between 
New Zealand and Cape Horn in June and in July, and although we did not see it in the 
Magellan Straits it appeared again occasionally on the Atlantic side. We saw no 
example further north than 45° S. in 45° W. Its recognised range covers the Southern 
Oceans, and it is known to go as far north as Central America on the Pacific side. 
THALASSOGERON CHLORORHYNCHUS. 
The Yellow-billed Albatross. 
Diomedea chlororhynchos, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. (1788), p. 568. 
Thalassogeron chlororhynchus, Ridgw., Man. N. Amer. Birds (1887), p. 58; Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. 
XXV. (1896), p. 451, thique citata, 
We first encountered Thalassogeron chlororhynchus in the South Atlantic Ocean on 
September 22, 1901 (35° S. 14° W.). It is quite recognisable on the wing by the character- 
