NOBTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 47 



Holder, Who was in search of new guano Islands, that these birds nest during the 

 winter months on the coral Islaiid of Gaspar Rico near the equator. 



82. SHORT-TAILED ALBATKOSS. Diomedea albatrus Pall. Geog. Dlst.— 

 Pacific Ocean, Including western coast of Africa, northward to Bering Sea. 



This Albatross inhabits the Pacific Ocean at large. It breeds on the lonely 

 islands west of the Sandwich group. It is also supposed to breed on some of the 

 islands off the coast of China and Japan and on some of the Aleutian Islands. This 

 species requires many years before it attains perfect plumage, but the young are 

 said to be easily distinguished from nij/ripes. It is a constant attendant of whaling 

 vessels, feeding on the scraps of blubber or refuse thrown from the ships. It is easily 

 caught with hook and line, and when taken on board is said to be unable to rise 

 from the deck, as it requires a long range of surface on which to flap its wings. The 

 single egg which this species deposits is white, equal-ended, and measures 4.20x2.60. 

 It is laid on the bare ground. 



83. YELIiOW-NIOSED ALBATROSS. Thakissogeron culminatus (Gould.) Geog. 

 Dist.^ — Indian and South Pacific Oceans; casual off the coast of Oregon. 



Supposed to be a rare visitant on the Pacific coast north of the equator. A dead 

 specimen answering the description of this species was washed up on the beach near 

 the Golden Gate, and an example is said to have been taken as far north as the mouth 

 of the Columbia River, Oregon. It breeds on the islands of the Southern Indian and 

 South Pacific Oceans. A single egg is laid. A specimen of the egg of this species, 

 which was collected by Captain Thomas B. Lynch, at Diego Ramirey Islands, near 

 Cape Horn, February 8, 1886, measures 4.30x2.72, and is dull white, faintly speckled 

 with lavender and purplish. The specks form an indistinct wreath at the larger 

 end; in the same manner that the eggs of Leach's Petrel are often marked. In fact, 

 Mr. Norris says that this specimen looks like an egg of the latter seen through a 

 powerful magnifying glass. Incubation in this case was slightly advanced. The 

 nest consisted of mud scraped together in a heap on the ground. Mr. Emerson has 

 an egg of this albatross which measures 4.68x2.-68; it was taken by Captain Lynch at 

 Diegos Kavnen's rocks, S. by E. fifty-two miles from Cape Horn, January 12, 1880. 

 The egg was fresh. The nest was composed of grass and mud" on the outside, and 

 lined with fine grass and feathers. The diameter outside at the top 12 Inches.and at 

 the base 18. Iniside it was 10 inches broad by 5 deep. It was built on the top of 

 rocks on a loamy plain. The data accompanying Mr. EJmerson's specimen states that 

 the nests are placed close together, and they are very nicely and solidly built, lasting 

 two or three seasons even in that hot climate.* Ridgway gives the size of the egg as 

 4.18x2.63. Mr. Crandall has an egg collected by Capt. Lynch which measures 4.11x 

 2.7-3. This was on the same island as recorded above — 52 miles from Cape Horn. 



84. SOOTY ALBATROSS. Pimhetria fuUginosa (Gm.) Geog. Dist.— Oceans of 

 the Southern Hemisphere, northward to the coast of Oregon. 



A great ocean wanderer, more common in the South than in the North Pacific 

 regions. A rare visitor to the coasts of North America. This dusky species breeds on 

 the islands off the coast of China and southward. It nests commonly on the Islands 

 that lie southeast of Africa, namely: Prince Edwards, Crozete, Kerguelen Islands and 

 others. Here they breed in October and November, placing the nest in the cavity of 

 some high, perpendicular rock. • The nest is a conical mound, 7 or 8 iiiches high, 

 hollowed at the top and rudely lined with grass. The single egg which this species 



* Ornithologist and Oologist, Vol. XI, pp. 21-22. 



