MACRONECTES GIGANTEUS. 



digging the latter out of their holes and devouring them. On Kerguelen Island the 

 birds were seen soaring all day on the look-out for food, and no sooner was an animal 

 killed than numbers appeared as if by magic. They are evidently well aware of the 

 proceedings of the sealers, who kill the sea-elephant and take off the skin and blubber, 

 rejecting the carcase. The Fulmars settle down all round in a group, a dozen or so 

 together, and fight among themselves as to who should have the first bite ; like Vultures, 

 too, they gorge themselves with food till they are unable to fly. Moseley came across 

 half-a-dozen together at Christmas Harbour, which, when chased by the men, took to 

 the water, while others rapidly disgorged their food to enable them to fly. A story 

 is told by Mr. A. H. Guillemard of a sailor picked up at sea who had his arms 

 badly lacerated while defending his head from the attack of an Albatros, which was 

 more probably a Macronectes. 



In Latitude 66° 3' S., and Longitude 39° 40' W., numbers of these birds were seen 

 from the " Scotia " feeding on the carcase of a dead whale ; the stomach of one 

 captured there contained also crustaceans. 



This bird has the unpleasant habit of the Snowy Petrel and others, of 

 defendhig itself by discharging the contents of its stomach at the intruder. The 

 Rev. A. E. Eaton describes a young bird which, if annoyed, would squirt oil to a 

 distance of a yard. The skulls of two " Blue Petrels " were found inside a specimen 

 of Macronectes ; these were probably captured on shore, as it is scarcely possible that 

 such a heavy bird as the Giant Fulmar could capture a Prion when in full flight. 

 Mr. Robert Hall also records that he found the tongues of Prions and Penguins in the 

 stomachs of young birds (Ibis, 1900, p. 28). Although resembling an Albatros in 

 general size and appearance, it is obvious that this species has a more heavy and 

 laboured flight, and Gould observes that when on the wing the white bill is very 

 conspicuous. 



The nests found by the naturalists of the " Scotia " on Laurie Island, consisted of 

 piles of small angular stones, and were about two feet in diameter. One of the birds 

 was found sitting even before the egg was laid, the other was standing close along- 

 side (Eagle Clarke, Ibis, 1906, p. 172, PI. XL, fig. 2). In Kerguelen Island Mr. Robert 

 Hall says the nests were three feet in diameter, consisting only of hollows in the 

 sand, among the broken stems of azorella. 



The roughly granulated eggs are oval, plain white, and without gloss ; they 

 measure, length, 3.85-4 inches ; width, 2.35-2.7. 



Adult male. General colour above slaty-brown, with paler brown edges to the 

 feathers ; wing-coverts like the back, with lighter ashy-brown margins to the lesser 

 coverts ; quills blackish-brown, the primaries with whitish shafts ; tail-feathers 

 dark brown, with the shafts whity-brown towards the base ; head dark brown, feathers 

 slightly mottled with blackish bases and sandy coloured margins ; throat dull white, 

 mottled with bars of brown on the lower throat ; remainder of under-surface of body 



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