440 
[Dec. s, 1903. 
The Albatross at Home* 
There has recently been published in the U. S. Fish 
Commission Bulletin for 1903, an extremely interesting 
paper by Walter K. Fisher, on the Birds of Laysan and 
the Leeward Islands of the Hawaiian group. 
Many of these Leeward Islands, lying far to the 
west of Hawaii, are mere rocks, and are sometimes 
known as Bird Islands. Mr. Fisher's sojourn among 
them was brief and undertaken in the summer of 1902, 
He spent a week on Laysan, which is about 800 miles 
from Honolulu, and there made the interesting ob- 
servations included in this paper. Although the num- 
ber of sea fowl there is enormous, the species breeding 
are few, there being but 23, of which 18 are sea fowls, 
and 5 land birds, including a rail and a duck. A new 
species of tern was discovered on one of these islands. 
The region is not untouched ground for the ornitholo- 
gist, for its bird fauna has been covered by the obser- 
vations of a number of students, from 1891 down to the 
present time. 
The U. S. F. C. S. S. Albatross left Honolulu for 
Laysan May 10, and on May 15, while still distant 75 
miles from the island, began to meet the sea birds 
which are found there. Laysan is a small island 3 
miles long by 1J/2 miles broad, and at its highest por- 
tion not more than 30 feet above the sea. It is con- 
sidered to be an old atoll, which has been elevated, and 
its vegetation is very sparse. On it are a lagoon of 
salt water, which, however, is not connected with the 
sea, and a little pond of fresh water. 
The island is a vast breeding ground for birds; terns, 
albatrosses, puffins, gannets, man-o'-war birds and 
petrels. Birds are everywhere, and the noise is some- 
times deafening. "When we made our way through 
a populous colony of sooty terns we had to exercise 
much care to avoid crushing their eggs and treading 
on the birds, which struggled panic stricken before us, 
with the old ruse of a broken wing, and then taking 
flight, swarmed over our heads. If we would converse 
it was necessary to shout." Portions of the island, 
where there was soil, were completely honey-bombed 
with the burrows of petrels, and in walking over this 
the pedestrian constantly broke through the roof of 
these tunnels, sinking in the soft soil up to the knees. 
"Few of the birds seemed frightened, and with the 
exercise of a little care, we were able to approach 
most of the species as close as we wished. It was 
certainly gratifying to be able to walk up to an alba- 
tross or a booby and watch it feed its young and to 
record this domestic duty with a camera. It might 
perhaps be difficult to convey the pleasure I experi- 
enced, when, standing in a group of albatrosses, one 
came up and peered into my face, and finding my inten- 
tions good, proceeded to examine inquisitively the pol- 
ished top of my tripod. Many of the young alba- 
trosses would allow themselves to be stroked after a 
ludicrous show of displeasure, and would soon appear 
as if they had known us always. The little rails scamp- 
ered hither and thither like diminutive barnyard fowls, 
but soon returned, craning their necks to discover why 
they had retreated. When we sat working, not infre- 
quently the little miller bird came and perched for a 
moment on our table and chair backs, and the laysan 
finch and rail walked about our feet in busy search for 
flies and bits of meat. The beautiful little honey eater 
visited us each day at meal time, and sought for 
'millers' in the panels and seams between the boards. 
Thus, wherever we went we were free to watch and 
learn, and were trusted by the birds. It seems a touch- 
ing and unique experience, and one which demon- 
strates all too forcibly the attitude of wild creatures 
which have not yet learned that man is usually an 
enemy." 
Although Laysan, where most of these observations 
were made, is low and flat, others of these rocks, such 
as Necker Island and Bird Island, are high and pre- 
cipitous; the latter rising over 900 feet into the air. 
The Necker Island tern {Procelsterna saxatilis') , 
described by Mr. Fisher in the Proceedings of the U. 
S. National Museum for 1903, was found breeding on 
Necker Island, where it was abundant. It was also 
seen about Bird Island, but here, owing to bad weather, 
no landing could be made. How wide the distribution 
of the species may be we do not know; but an allied 
species is found over much of the South Pacific. 
One of the interesting, abundant and remarkable birds 
of Laysan is the albatross named from the island, 
called also Gony. Of these there is an immense colony, 
occupying the flat plains surrounding the lagoon, where 
one can see, at a single view, many thousands of the 
birds. Indeed, there seems scarcely a tussock of the 
grass over the greater portion of the slopes of the 
island, but has a young bird in its shadow, ready to 
snap at the passerby with an appearance of ferocity. 
When approached they seem to become angry, lean 
forward and snap their beaks viciously, or may even 
make a rush, waddling along, and darting the heads 
FAVORITE GAl^tE IN FIRST STAGE. 
SECOND STAGE OF FAVORITE GAME. 
USUAL FINISH OF GAME. 
FINISH OF THE SONG DANCE. 
back and forth to the music of clicking mandibles. 
Usually, however, they can be coaxed into good na- 
ture, and may be handled easily. 
"The old birds, however, are quite different, and do 
not seem to mind the presence of man. One can walk 
among them without disturbing their various occupa- 
tions and movements in the least. Only when sudden- 
ly startled do they exhibit any tendency to snap their 
bills, and then they are easily calmed. They back away 
from any proffered familiarity with great rapidity, un- 
less suddenly hindered by a tuft of grass, which event 
surprises them immoderately. They will not allow 
themselves to be handled, and make off at a great rate 
if one offers them this indignity. They have a half 
doubting inquisitiveness which leads them sometimes 
to walk up to the visitor and examine anything con- 
spicuous about his person. One bird became greatly 
interested in the bright aluminum cap to my tripod, and 
strolled up and examined it carefully, with both eye and 
beak, appearing somewhat astonished when the cap 
tinkled. 
"When standing beside their young they present a 
very attractive sight, as their plumage is always immac- 
ulately clean. The region about the eye is dark-gray- 
ish, overhung by a pure white eyebrow, which gives 
them a decidedly pensive appearance. They have an 
innate objection to idleness, and, consequently, seldom 
stand around doing nothing, but spend much time in a 
curious performance, the meaning of which I am at a 
loss to explain. It has been cahed courting (Avifauna 
of Laysan, etc., p. 57), but as the antics are carried on 
during the bird's residence of about ten months on the 
island, they are probably an amusement, in which the 
albatrosses indulge immoderately in lieu of other di- 
versions. This game, or whatever one may wish to call 
it, may have originated in past time during the court- 
ing period, but it certainly has long since lost any such 
significance. 
"The proceeding in brief is as follows. Two alba- 
trosses approach each other bowing profoundly' and 
stepping rather heavily. They circle round each other 
nodding solemnly all the time. Next they fence a little, 
crossing bills and whetting them together, pecking 
meanwhile, and dropping stiff little bows. Suddenly 
one lifts its closed wing and nibbles at the feathers 
underneath, or, rarely, if in a hurry, merely turns its 
head and tucks its bill under its wing. The other bird 
during this short performance assumes a statuesque 
pose, and either looks mechanically from side to side 
or snaps its bill loudly a few times. Then the first 
bird bows once and, pointing its head and beak straight 
upward, rises on its toes, puffs out its breast, and utters 
a prolonged nasal groan, the other bird snapping its 
bill loudly and rapidly at the same time. 
"Sometimes both birds raise their heads in the air, 
and either one or both utter the indescribable and 
ridiculous bovine groan. When they have finished, they 
begin bowing at each other again, almost always rapid- 
ly and alternately, and presently repeat the perform- 
ance, the birds reversing their role in the game, or not. 
There is no hard and fast order to these tactics, which 
the seamen of the Albatross rather aptly called a 'cake 
walk,' but many variations occur. The majority of 
cases, however, follow the sequence I have indicated. 
Sometimes three engage in the play, one dividing its 
attention between two. They are always most polite, 
never losing their temper or offering any violence. 
The whole affair partakes of the nature of a snappy 
drill, and is more or less mechanical. 
"Occasionally one will lightly pick up a twig of 
grass and present it to the other. This one does not 
accept the gift, however, but, thereupon returns the 
compliment, when straws are promptly dropped and 
all hands begin bowing and walking about as if their 
very lives depended upon it. If one stands where alba- 
trosses are reasonably abundant, he can see as many as 
twenty couples hard at work bowing and groaning on 
all sides, and paying not the slightest attention to his 
presence. When walking through the grassy portions 
of the island, I have seen white heads bobbing up and 
down above the green, as solitary pairs were amusing 
themselves away from the larger congregations of their 
kind. If I walked up to them they would stop and 
gaze in a deprecating way and walk off, bowing still, 
with one eye in my direction. Having reached what 
they considered a respectful distance, they would fall 
to and resume their play. 
"Should one enter a group of albatrosses which 
have been recentl}'- engaged in this diversion and begin 
to bow very low, the birds will sometimes walk around 
in a puzzled sort of way, bowing in return, a curious 
fact, which F. H. von Kittlitz recorded early in 1834: 
" 'When Herr Isenbeck met one, he used to bow to 
it, and the albatrosses were polite enough to answer, 
bowing and cackling. This could easily be regarded 
as a fairy tale; but considering that these birds, which 
did not even fly away when approached, had no reason 
to change their customs, it seems quite natural.' 
{Concluded on Page 44s.) 
