112. DIOMEDEA BULLERI, Rothschild. 



(BULLER'S ALBATROS.) 

 (Plate 98.) 



Diomedea culminata (nee Gould), auct., ex Nova Zealandia ; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 

 p. 295 (1873); Finsch, J. f. O., 1874, p. 206; Buller, Birds New Zeal., 

 2nd ed., II., p. 201 (1888). 



Diomedea bulleri, Rothschild, Bull. B. O. C, I., p. lviii. (1893) ; id., Ibis, 1893, 

 p. 572; Buller, Tr. N. Z. Inst., XXVII., p. 121 (1895); Salvin, Cat. Birds 

 Brit. Mus., XXV., p. 448 (1896) ; Buller, Suppl. Birds New Zeal., I., p. 149, 

 PL V., fig. 1 (1905) ; Ogilvie-Grant, Ibis, 1905, p. 558. 



Minor: ala 19.2 : rostro nigricante, culmine flavo : mandibula ad basin flavicante. 



This Albatros is apparently confined to the Seas of New Zealand. It is a well-marked 

 species, and may be distinguished by the black latericorn of the bill. The culminicorn, 

 however, is yellow, and there is a certain amount of yellow at the base of 

 the lower mandible. 



For many years the species was known as D. culminata, and was thus described by 

 Buller in the first and second editions of his "Birds of New Zealand." It differs, 

 however, in having the mantle brownish-grey, not ashy-grey, and the fore-part of the 

 crown is white, with the hinder-part grey, like the face and throat ; whereas in D. 

 ctdminata the whole crown is delicate ashy-grey. 



The Hon. Walter Rothschild points out that as regards the form of the bill, 

 D. bulleri is somewhat intermediate between the genera Diomedea and Thalassogeron. 

 In the latter genus, as recognised by Salvin, the base of the culminicorn is separated 

 by an interval of soft skin from the latericorn, but in Diomedea there is no such 

 separation between the basal area of these two portions of the bill. 



Buller says the nest is similar to that of Thalassogeron salvini, and describes the 

 eggs as varying slightly in size, averaging 4 inches in length by 2*5 inches in breadth. 

 Some are of a uniform creamy-white, while others have the larger end speckled with 

 small reddish dots, becoming confluent in places and forming a distinct zone. The 

 bird is, apparently, a native of Snares Island, where it nests at the end of January, 

 and Buller says it is the only Albatros found breeding there. 



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