MONOGRAPH OF THE PETRELS. 



It then swims after and seizes the object, which it has missed in its descent, 

 but rises with difficulty, for it is only after a considerable run upon the water 

 that the power of flight is recovered. In rough weather it hovers continually, 

 but in a slight breeze greater use is made of the wings. 



D. exulans breeds in gigantic colonies on isolated islands, making its nest 

 of closely packed dry and green grass, and like other Petrels, laying but a 

 single egg. 



The food consists, according to Captain Hutton, of oceanic mollusca, small 

 crustaceans, medusae, and the refuse thrown overboard from ships, but he 

 never found the remains of fish. Dr. Wilson, during the voyage of the 

 " Discovery," relates that in the stomach of one of the specimens captured 

 was the undigested remains of a Roman Catholic tract, with a portrait of the 

 late Cardinal Vaughan. 



A paper by the late Captain Hutton in the " Ibis " for 1903 (pp. 81-88) is 

 probably the best that has been published on the flight of the Albatros, 

 and it is accompanied with some very characteristic illustrations of flying birds, 

 which have been reproduced by Sir W. Buller in the " Supplement to The Birds of 

 New Zealand." 



With regard to the distances which Albatroses are supposed to cover in their 

 flight, not many authentic records are available, but one instance has been given 

 by Mr. Frank M. Chapman in the "Auk" for 1895 (p. 291), which is of special 

 interest. " The Museum of Brown University possesses a specimen of a Wandering 

 Albatros bearing the following note on its label : — ' December 8th, 1847. Ship 

 "Euphrates," Edwards, New Bedford, 16 months out, 2300 bis. of oil, 150 of it 

 sperm. I have not seen a whale for four months. Lat. 43° 00' S. Long. 148° 

 40' W. Thick, foggy, with rain.' On the reverse side is written : — ' This was 

 taken out of small bottle tied to the neck of a "Goney" on the coast of Chile by 

 Hiram Luther, captain of the whaling barque Cachelot, on the 20th of December, 

 1847, in Lat. 45° 50' S., Long. 78° 27' W.; ' so that the bird must have travelled at 

 least 3400 miles in twelve days." 



Dr. E. A. Wilson, in his report on the "Discovery" collections, says : — "When 

 on the wing the feet are folded together at full length under the tail, extending 

 beyond its longest feathers, thus giving the impression of a markedly wedge- 

 shaped tail, with a white terminal border. In reality, the tail is bordered with 

 black at the extremity, and the appearance of white beyond the black is due to 

 the extended feet." 



Much has been written concerning the breadth of the wing in the flying Albatros, 

 and Buller records one with an expanse of 17 feet as having been placed on record. 

 His own largest specimens measured 14 feet across, and Captain Hutton gives 

 the average breadth as 10 feet, the smallest being 9 and the largest 12 feet. 



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