192 
extends fui'ther on the inner web ; on the outermost feather the black reaches only halfway down on the 
outer webj and on the inner is reduced to a patch in the form of a hatchet the under tail-coverts, which 
extend to the end of the feathers, are pure white. Bill beautiful pinky horn-colour, the cutting-edge of the 
upper mandible margined with black as far as the unguis. Length 43 inches ; wing, from second flexure, 
24'5 ; tail 8 ; bill, from gape to tip 6, following curvature of upper mandible from the base 6'5, along the 
edge of lower mandible 5‘6; tarsus 4; middle toe and claw 6'5 ; greatest width of expanded foot 6'5. 
Notes. Mr. Gould, in his ‘ Handbook to the Birds of Australia ^ (ii. p. 433) thus disposes of the dilfereuces of 
plumage: — The Wandering Albatros varies much in colour at different ages: very old birds are entirely 
white, with the exception of the pinions, which are black ; and they are to be met with in every stage, 
from pure white, white freckled and barred with dark brown, to dark chocolate-brown approaching to 
black, the latter colouring being always accompanied by a white face, which in some specimens is washed 
with buff; beneath the true feathers they are abundantly supplied with a fine white down. . . . The young 
are at first clothed in a pure white down, which gives place to the dark brown colouring mentioned above.” 
A fledgling, however, in the Otago Museum (obtained at Campbell Island) is entirely without the dark 
plumage. It has not yet completely lost the dense fluffy pure white down which forms the clothing of the 
nestling. The head, neck, shoulders, rump, tail, and entire under surface are of the purest white, having a 
fine silky gloss ; the interscapular region is traversed longitudinally with club-shaped marks of greyish black, 
increasing downwards, the larger feathers having their apical portion completely covered ; upwards, towards 
the shoulders, these marks diminish till they become mere arrow-heads ; on the mantle there are numerous 
marginal bars, but there is no vermiculation. The wings are brownish black on their upper surface varied 
with white, all the coverts having white margins, and the quills are black. Bill yellowish horn-colour, 
with a bluish tinge on the upper mandible. 
Shortly before leaving the colony, I saw, at Waikanae, a fresh specimen which had been cast ashore on 
the coast during a severe gale. It was of small size, and evidently a young bird. The whole of the plumage 
was pure white without any markings, excepting only the wings, which were black on their upper surface, 
largely dappled with white, especially towards the humeral flexure. Legs and feet flesh-grey. The skin of 
this bird afterwards came into the possession of Mr. S. W. Silver, of Lctcomb Manor, and, with his permission, 
I have introduced its likeness into my Plate of this species, as the back figure standing on a rock. 
We cannot suppose that the Albatros is first pure white, then dark brown, and, after passing through 
several intermediate states, pure white again in extreme old age. Nor would it be altogether safe, from the 
materials at present before us, to construct a new species. I am inclined rather to account for the differences 
I have mentioned on the supposition of the existence of dimorphic phases of plumage as in some other oceanic 
birds. 
The following is a description of a perfectly mature example of this Albatros, the fresh skin of which 
was received at the Canterbury Museum from one of the emigrant ships, in 1874, and noticed by me in a 
communication to the Philosophical Institute * : — The whole of the head and neck, as well as the upper and 
lower parts of the body, of the purest milk-white. On each side of the nape, or upper part of the neck, there 
is a broad longitudinal mark, of a beautiful roseate pink, covering an area of about six inches in length by 
two inches in breadth, which fades soon after death, and ultimately disappears altogether in the dried skinf. 
Another specimen obtained at the same time showed traces of this feature, but in a very diminished degree; 
and I conclude that it is to be met with only in very old birds, or at some particidar season of the year. The 
only dark markings are on the wings and tail ; on the latter, eaeh feather has two subapical irregular spots 
of black, larger and darker on the outer webs. (It is probable that these spots ultimately disappear, leaving 
* Trans. If.-Z. Inst. vol. viii. p. 189. 
t This feature, which appeared to me at the time quite a new fact in natural history, has since been noticed by Dr. Kidder 
in the following terms : — “ All of the nesting Albatroses that I saw, without exception, showed a slight pinkish discoloration of 
the neck, as if a blood-stain had been washed out (usually on the left side), and extending downward from the region of the ear.” 
I find, however, that I was not the first to record this peculiarity of coloration. Captain Hutton, in his ‘Notes on the Petrels 
of the Southern Ocean,’ mentions “ a rose-coloured streak on each side of the neck,” and adds, “ I have never seen this on either 
the young or very old birds ; and the only one I ever captured with it was a male. I have also only seen these marks between 
June and August, and I am therefore disposed to believe that they distinguish the middle-aged male bird previous to the breeding- 
season ; but I am not sure of this.” 
