156 



The late Captain Fairchild, ever on the alert for new or interesting forms, brought me a pair 

 of these birds which he had shot from an open boat a few miles north of Cape Palliser. 

 He stated that, during the many years he had been navigating on this coast, he had never 

 before met with this Albatros so far north as that. The broad white mark which encircles 

 the eyes, except in front, is particularly conspicuous in the male bird ; and the white shafts in the 

 feathers of the tail, which is rather long and acuminate, are a very pronounced feature. Bill 

 ivory-black, with a pale-blue line near the cutting-edge of the lower mandible, running off to 

 a point in front of the terminal expansion ; feet pinkish fleshy-white, clouded with grey at 

 the joints, on the interdigital webs, and along the outer edge of the foot ; claws white-horn 

 colour ; irides rich dark-brown. Length, 36 in. ; extent of wings, 82'5 in. He informed me 

 that about the end of May or beginning of June, when off Milford Sound, in the ' Hinemoa,' 

 he saw fully a dozen Sooty Albatroses coursing about together — a most unusual circumstance. 



I have in my collection a younger nestling of this Albatros than the one described in 

 the ' Birds of New Zealand.' The whole body is covered with thick woolly down of a slaty-grey 

 colour, except on the forehead, face, and throat, where the down is very short and thick set, 

 having the appearance of pile-velvet. This stumpy growth is black; but a patch of white 

 encircles the eyes, fills the lores, and sweeps over the base of the bill, having the appearance 

 of blinkers. Bill and feet black. 



I have another down-covered nestling of this species, received from the Auckland Islands. 

 The carpenter on board the ' Hinemoa,' who is a very intelligent man and has collected many 

 good specimens at the Islands, informs me that this species of Albatros — unlike the others, which 

 place their nests on the ground within easy reach — selects for nesting purposes the ledges of rocks 

 on the face of the cliffs, and often in the most inaccessible places. 



This species breeds on Campbell Island, Auckland Islands, and Antipodes Island (Hutton). 



Young. Covered with very long and thick down of a pale sooty colour; on the forepart and 

 sides of head feather-like and several shades darker in tint. A band of feather-like down encircles 

 the eyes, and extends forward to the base of the bill, having very much the appearance of a pair 

 of spectacles. Bill black ; legs brownish grey, claws lighter. 



Obs. In the adult bird the white ring extends right round the eyes. There are some good 

 specimens of both adult and young from the Auckland Islands in Mr. Jennings' collection 

 at Dunedin. 



Mr. Salvin (' Gat. B. Brit. Mus.,' xxv., p. 454), writes :— 



Individuals with a much greyer abdomen and back are not uncommon, mingled with the ordinary form. 

 Captain Hutton has named them Diomedea fuliginosa var. cornicoides. ■ If these birds can be traced to a 

 definite breeding place where they alone are found, it would be well to assign them specific rank. 



The following is an entry in my diary for 1894, already cited :— 



23rd February.— We are attended to-day by a large number of sea-birds, including several species of 

 Albatros, Diomedea fuliginosa, however, preponderating. The flight of this species is very easy and buoyant 

 and it rises more gracefully out of the water than any of the other species of Albatros. When on the wing 

 the somewhat long, wedge-shaped, tail is very conspicuous. It is a powerful flyer, and Captain Kempson says 

 that he has known a marked bird follow the ship for three thousand miles at a stretch. The number of these 

 Sooty Albatroses continued to increase till, in the afternoon, I counted five-and-twenty in close attendance on 

 the ship. There was a single grey-and- white Petrel which I referred to Priofinus cinereus, although we do not 

 appear to have yet reached the ordinary range of that gregarious species. Fregetla melanogaster was par- 

 ticularly numerous, hunting as it were in a community, often rising high in the air and performing a rapid 

 bat-like flight, very unlike that of the other Storm Petrels. The Prions that were so plentiful yesterday 



