ALBATROSSES 19 



time it remains in the nest. The wings of the Alba- 

 tross spread as much as ten feet, but though so long, 

 they are very narrow, not more than a foot in width 

 at the widest point. In rising from the water it has 

 some difficulty in getting under way, but once on the 

 wing the flight is unexcelled by that of any other bird. 

 These birds often follow ships at sea for days at a 

 time, and there is a superstition among sailors that it 

 is bad luck to shoot or otherwise injure one of them. 

 This sentiment has been made use of by Coleridge in 

 his "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," in which he tells 

 of the sufferings of a ship's crew after the shooting of 

 one of these birds. See Plate 38, Fig. 221. 



Albatrosses are very plentiful in the islands of the 

 Pacific Ocean. A writer who has studied them there 

 says they behave very strangely at the mating season. 

 Standing face to face, they begin nodding and bow- 

 ing vigorously, and then rub their bills together with 

 a whistling cry. After this they begin shaking their 

 heads and snapping their bills with marvellous rapid- 

 ity, occasionally lifting one wing, straightening them- 

 selves out, and blowing out their breasts. Then they 

 put their bill under their wings or toss it in the air, 

 with a groaning scream, and walk round each other, 

 often for fifteen minutes at a time. 



The largest and perhaps best known species is the 

 Wandering Albatross. Its plumage is, in general, 

 white, with some black markings, the feet are pinkish, 

 and the bill is yellow. Another well-defined, much 

 smaller species is the Sooty Albatross, so called from 

 its very dark colour. 



