400 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



over the oflfal thrown from the ship, then they ' bray' in much the same 

 tone as the ass. They are easily caught with a hook and line, but, 

 owing to their thick plumage and tenacity of life, it is difficult to kill 

 them with shot. 



" On the 20th of December, we found this bird breeding at Wake's 

 Island. The single egg of each pair was laid on the ground, in a 

 slight concavity, without any lining material ; both sexes take turns 

 in the labors of incubation, and neither the male nor the female aban- 

 doned the nest on our approach, but walked around us in a very digni- 

 fied manner, and made but a few demonstrations of defence with their 

 bills when taken up in our arms. 



" The egg is white, of an oblong figure, with the ends nearly alike, 

 and measures four and two-tenths inches long, and two and six-tenths 

 inches in diameter. 



" The two sexes are alike in plumage, and do not vary much in size, 

 the males being rather the larger, as will be seen from the following 

 table of dimensions, made when the specimens were recently killed ; 

 the sex was determined by dissection, after measurement : 





Length. 



Extent of Wings. 





2 



feet. 



10 inches. 



7 feet, 3 inches. 



Youn<^, male, 



2 



:i 



8. J " 



1 u 3 a 





2 



11 



71 " 



6 " 8 " 



Young, female, 



2 



u 



8^- " 



6 " 10 " 



Young, female, 



2 



11 



61 " 



6 " 10 « 



" It was not our fortune to observe more than this one species of 

 Albatross in the North Pacific. It is subject to great variations of 

 plumage, but is very distinct from those of the Southern Hemisphere. 

 The Wandering Albatross [Diomedea exulans), and the 'Yellow Nose' 

 (Z). chlororlijjnclius) , both of which, it has been asserted, have been 

 sometimes found in the northern oceans, we believe, on the contrary, 

 to be entirely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. We saw both 

 of the last-named species and also the Sooty Albatross as far south as 

 57° 41', which appeared to be nearly their southern limit. Their 

 northern limits of migration, on the Atlantic shores of South America, 

 are somewhere about the River La Plata, and, on the Pacific coasts, 

 about the southern parts of Peru." 



