base, and 27 inches in diameter a< the top. This huge affair is constructed of dried grass, loaves and 

 M-awrcd, matted together with mud, is usually built along the side of some grassy declivity, and with 

 the great white bird sitting on the top, is a curious sight to witness. During the process of incubation 

 th, male bird is for ever <>n the wing, and shews the utmost solicitude in supplying his mate with food. 

 The presence of the male bird seems to inspire his companion with courage, and she will defend herself 

 stoutly with her bill, and can only he dragged off the nest by using great force, when she will waddle 

 awkwardly away t.. a shori distance and anxiously watch the movements of the despoiler. Dr. McCormick 

 noticed that a fierce Bpecies of LestrtS was always on the watch for the female bird to quit the nest, 

 when this predatory visitor would instantly pounce down and devour the egg; and when one of these 

 pirates passed overhead the poor female Albatroses would snap their beaks violently together and 

 give utterance to harsh, braying croaks. 



The egg a purr white, four inches and three-quarters long by three and a quarter broad; 

 gome have been noticed to be marked with dull spots at the larger end. It is considered good food by 

 the sealers and whalers, although, like the egg of some other oceanic birds, no amount of boiling will 

 harden the whit.. 



This Bpecies varies much in colour at different ages ; very old birds are almost entirely white, 

 with the exception of tin- pinions, which are a very dark brown, or nearly black; and birds are met 

 with in every Btage, from white, mottled white and brown, and barred with dark brown, to a rich 

 dark brown approaching to black ; bill, delicate pink, except for the tips of the mandibles, which are 

 a light horn-colour ; eyelash, bare, fleshy and of a pale green ; legs, feet and webs, pinky-white. 



Habitats: From the :{Uth to the 00th degree of south latitude this species is most abundant; 



from the Cape of C 1 Hope to Cape Horn great numbers are always to be met with; in the cold seas 



surrounding the Auckland and Campbell Islands, and also about the southern coasts of Tasmania, it is 

 very plentiful, and is common over the whole of the southern and temperate latitudes of both Atlantic 

 and Pacific Oceans. 



