108. DIOMEDEA IRRORATA, Salvin. 



(WAVED ALBATROS.) 



(Plate 93.) 



Diomedea irrorata, Salvin, P. Z. S., 1883, p. 430 ; Tacz., Orn. Perou, III., p. 461 (1886) ; 

 Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XXV., p. 445, PI. VIII. (1896) ; Rothschild 

 and Hartert, Nov. Zool., VI., p. 192 (1899), IX., p. 414 (1902). 



Subtus fuliginosa, albo regulariter transversim notata uropygio et supracaudalibus 

 albis nigro transversim fasciatis. 



Admiral A. H. Markham first discovered D. irrorata in Callao Bay, Peru, and the 

 species was subsequently described by Salvin from one of his specimens. It has 

 since been found breeding in the Galapagos Archipelago by Mr. Wolf in such numbers 

 that an entire camp of " orchilla " collectors, numbering more than fifty men, lived 

 for a month almost entirely on the eggs, though each female lays but a single one. 



Dr. Habel, who was the first to record the occurrence of Albatroses on Hood 

 Island, did not obtain any specimens, but he described the birds in two different 

 phases of plumage, one having a blackish breast with a white band crossing the head 

 from eye to eye, while the breast of the other was grey (Salvin, Trans. Z. S., IX., 

 pp. 458, 459) ; but whether this difference was due to sex, age, or species, he was unable to 

 decide. It is possible that the bird with a white band may have been D. nigripes, 

 though it has not yet been obtained from the Galapagos. Messrs. Rothschild and 

 Hartert say that it was frequently procured to the northward of these islands 

 in Lat. 32°-35° N., Long. 119°-137° W. 



During the Webster-Harris Expedition, a large colony of D. irrorata was found 

 breeding on Hood Island in the end of October, when many forsaken eggs were 

 obtained. Young individuals in their first plumage were observed, but as 

 unfortunately none were collected, the dress of the immature bird is still 

 unrecorded (Rothschild and Hartert, Nov. Zool, VI., p. 193). Dr. Baur, who 

 visited the island between the 5th and 8th July, makes no mention of any Albatroses 

 whatever. The Webster-Harris Expedition recorded, but did not identify, Albatroses 

 near Duncan and Albemarle Islands, and Messrs. Rothschild and Hartert believe 

 that the black bird with a white band observed by Mr. Harris was either D. irrorata 

 in immature plumage, or possibly an unknown species. 



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