115. THALASSOGEKON SALVINI, Bothschild. 



(SALVIN'S ALBATROS.) 

 (Plate 100.) 



Diomedea cauta (nee Gould), Buller, Tr. N. Z. Inst., VI., p. 217 (1878) ; id., Birds New 

 Zeal., ed. 2, II., p. 203 (1888) ; Cheeseman, Tr. N. Z. Inst., XXI., p. 125 

 (1889) ; Buller, op. cit., XXIV., p. 67 (1892) ; XXV, p. 76 (1893). 



Thalassogeron salvini, Rothschild, Bull. B. 0. C, I., p. lviii. (1893) ; id., Ibis, 1893, 

 p. 572 ; Salvin, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., XXV, p. 450 (1896). 



Diomedea salvini, Buller, Tr. N. Z. Inst., XXVII,, p. 122 (1895) ; id., Suppl. Birds 

 New Zeal., I., p. 150, PI. V., fig. 2 (1905). 



Diomedea; bulleri similis, sed rostro lateraliter cyanescenti-corneo, culmine quoque 

 concolori, minime flavo : mandibula basali haud flavicante : gutture et collo undique 

 clare cinereis, pileo antico albo. 



T. salvini was considered by Captain Hutton to be merely a variety of T. cautus, but 

 after examining the specimens in the Tring Museum, Salvin unhesitatingly pronounced it 

 to be a distinct species, placing it in close proximity to T. cautus and T. layardi, both 

 of which it closely resembles, though differing in the colour of the bill. In the 

 white crown and the grey head and neck T. salvini much resembles Diomedea bulleri, 

 but the colour of the bill as figured by Buller (Suppl. Birds New Zeal., I., PL V., figs. 

 1, 2) is very different, and D. bulleri is also a smaller bird. 



Buller relates that according to Mr. Bethune, the engineer of the "Hinemoa," 

 Salvin's Albatros is found breeding on Bounty Island only, and it was there seen 

 by Captain Hutton in countless numbers at the beginning of August. 



The nest, in the form of an inverted cone, is composed of grass, seaweed, soil 

 and droppings of the bird, pressed closely together and forming a compact felt-like 

 mass, which becomes solidified by exposure to the sun. 



The nestling is covered with thick grey down, except on the face, where the down 

 is short and almost white. The egg is said to be rather variable in colour and 

 markings. 



Both T. salvini and T. cautus have a bare membrane down the base of the lower 

 mandible, and the moustachial membrane on the cheek is of a rich orange-yellow ; this 



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