The Short-tailed Albatross 



tion of turning. The sharper the turn the sharper the tilt. It is declared 

 that the Albatross can accomplish an absolute turn; that is, by assuming 

 the perpendicular, with one wing-tip in the water and the other pointed 

 to the zenith, it can reverse its direction instantly without allowance for 

 strain. But while the Albatross is a good sailor, he is a poor oarsman. When 

 the wind fails, the birds are becalmed, and they sit the waters, it may be 

 for days at a time, rather than try to endure the exertion of a labored 

 flight. Indeed, in default of wind, the bird finds great difficulty in rising 

 from the water at all, even though assisted by powerful strokes of the feet. 



Doubtless Coleridge erred when he said of his avian hero: 

 "In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, 

 It perched for vespers nine," 

 for the Albatross, unlike the harbor gull, is no halyard loafer; but no 

 doubt on occasion 



"It ate the food it ne'er had eat," 

 in what fashion we may learn from Dr. Richards' illuminating account: 1 



"To the ornithologist on shipboard, the most interesting period is 

 just after meal hour, when the cooks are clearing out the 'galley.' Ever 

 on the alert, no suitable morsel escapes the hungry horde, and it is won- 

 derful how accurately they can pick out the 'wheat from the chaff,' no 

 second glance being given to the odds and ends unfit for food. But with 

 all their eagerness to be first at the feast, the prizes go to the ones that 

 can stop and alight the quickest. And most of them make a bad mess of 

 it: swooping rapidly to the coveted spot, they find it difficult to check 

 their speed, and many have to pass and circle back again. With those 

 more fortunate, or expert, wings are thrown suddenly back, the tail is 

 wide-spread and depressed, and — a most comical effect — the broad, 

 webbed feet are expanded and thrust out forward, exactly as a skater 

 digs his heels in the ice to stop his headway. Once on the water, the 

 wings are kept partly expanded and raised high over the back, the wind's 

 levitation thus bearing most of the weight. Actually, the birds now 

 walk on the water, paddling with the big feet quite sufficing to lift the bodies 

 clear and, gulping food rapidly as they go, the whole performance is most 

 grotesque. With all this excitement, there is no noise; in a few moments 

 the last scrap has disappeared, a hundred wings are extended, and, with 

 a final 'push,' each bird rises lightly to windward, resuming his tireless 

 vigil in our wake." 



Of the Short-tailed Albatross in particular, we may only say that it 

 occasionally appears off our shores — perhaps oftener and at nearer range 

 than any other species; that it enjoys a more northerly range than any 

 other species; and that it breeds on certain of the smaller islands off the 



1 Condor, Jan. -Feb., 1909, pp. 7-8. 



1991 



