120 WANDERING ALBATHOSS, 



upon which they would return to the ship, and hover 

 about it apparently without any muscular exertion, 

 steering themselves by the tail and wings. Nature 

 has been prodigal in her gifts to this remarkable bird. 

 Under the feathers there is a quantity of fine down, 

 which protects them from the cold; and the extent 

 and size of air-cells in their bones gives them that 

 buoyancy and lightness which enables them to live 

 almost always on the sea and on the wing. 



In the twelfth volume of the "Linnean Transactions" 

 Captain Carmichael, in his "Description of the Island 

 of Tristan du Cunha," has an account of the nesting 

 of this species. It gives itself no trouble in constructing 

 a nest, "merely choosing a dry spot of ground, and 

 producing a slight concavity to prevent the egg from 

 rolling out of its place. The egg is white, very large, 

 and of a peculiar shape, being uncommonly long in 

 proportion to its diameter, and equally thick, or nearly 

 so, at both ends," The young are fed by disgorging 

 from the parent stomach, food never being carried by 

 the mouth; for, as Captain Carmichael remarks, "the 

 blubber of dead whales, seals, and sea lions, would 

 melt away if carried in the bill to any distance." He 

 further adds: — 



"We could not help admiring the utter unconsciousness 

 of danger displayed by them on our approach; they 

 never shewed the least disposition to move out of the 

 way; even when kicked or pulled off their nests they 

 made not the slightest show of resistance, but quietly 

 returned to their post or stood still until we passed 

 on. Their plumage is in the finest order, copious, 

 and without the slightest stain. They find great 

 difficulty in getting on wing, and must run twenty or 

 thirty yards along the ground, with expanded wings. 



