ALBATROSSES. 
311 
at sea. And why are not birds likely to be adapted for 
our amusement as well as for our food ? 
The Albatrosses [Diomedea) are among the largest of 
aquatic birds. Some of the species have been known to 
keep company wdth ships for two or three days, 
" And every day, for food or play, 
Come to the mariner's hollo." 
They are said to attack men who have happened to fall 
overboard. Mr. M^Cormick, in his ^Zoological Notice of 
the Auckland Islands'^/ describes the albatross as breeding 
in considerable numbers on the tops of the cliffs. He found 
that their nests were formed upon a small mound of earth, 
and consisted of a great quantity of withered earth and 
leaves matted together. The nests were about six feet in 
circumference at the base, and about eighteen inches in 
height. They are formed by the joint labour of the male 
and female. The albatross lays only one egg, of a pure 
white, varying in weight from fifteen to twenty-one ounces. 
Out of about a hundred nests which he examined, in one 
instance only were two eggs found. Cuvier, in his ^ Eegne 
Animal,^ has said that the albatross lays several eggs. 
* Sir J. C. Ross, ' Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern 
and Antarctic Regions,' vol. i. p. 149. 
