ALBATROSSES 
45 
fulmars, shearwaters, and petrels, Procellariidae, that are here called for 
convenience the Greater and Lesser Tube-nosed Swimmers owing to their 
comparative sizes; and Hydrobatiidae, the Storm Petrels. 
Economic Status. Owing to their pelagic habitat they are of little if 
any known economic interest. 
FAMILY — DIOMEDEIDAE. THE GREATER TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. 
ALBATROSSES 
General Description. Tube-nosed Swimmers (See previous description) 30 to 36 inches 
long with an extent of 10 feet or more. Nostrils in independent tubes, one on each side 
of the culmen and not united or rising above it as in next family (Figures 83, 84, compare 
with 85-8S). 
Distinctions. Decidedly larger than any of the Lesser Tube-noses. Bill built up of 
large plates with well-defined divisions. Nostrils as above. 
Field Marks. Great size and immensely long wings. 
Nesting. On the ground, usually in large communities on lonely oceanic islands. 
Distribution. The family is most characteristic of the southern hemisphere but 
wanders all over the deep seas. 
The albatrosses are true pelagics and seldom come to land except to 
nest. Even along our outer seashores they are rarely seen, as they prefer 
the wide expanse of the trackless deep to coastal waters. The deep-sea 
fisherman sees them far out from land and the transoceanic traveller 
glimpses them in mid-ocean. Very rarely is this bird captured along the 
shores and there are few birds about which we know less. The untiring 
flight of the albatross is proverbial. Sailing for hours in the wind, seem- 
ingly without apparent motion of wing or expenditure of exertion, they 
are the wonder and admiration of aviators. The manner in which the 
albatrosses find their way in nesting season, without guide or landmark 
across trackless water, to particular small specks of ocean islands, is truly 
marvellous and suggests the possession of special powers of orientation. 
The mystery and interest that surround these birds are well expressed in 
Coleridge’s poem “The Ancient Mariner” and the bird is still looked upon 
with a certain awe and superstition by old-time sailors. 
Albatrosses come too seldom in contact with man or his works to have 
any economic importance except as victims of one of the most iniquitous 
practices of the millinery trade. It was long the custom for plume-hunting 
ships to fill their holds with the commercial fragments of their skins at 
the islands where they nested in countless thousands. The trade w r as 
often accompanied by the most horrible, unnecessary cruelty. On one 
occasion, hundreds were confined on Laysan island until they starved to 
death that their skins might be the freer of oil and grease. The immense 
number of the birds in nesting localities and the degree of destruction that 
the trade entailed are well shown by the fact that poachers, disturbed in 
their work, left behind them on the same island a large shed piled to the 
roof with wing tips alone. 
Fortunately, however, certain countries such as Canada, Great 
Britain, and the United States have forbidden, with certain exceptions, 
the importation of millinery feathers and so have destroyed the best 
markets for the trade and have done much to discourage it. 
These tireless fliers are great wanderers and although only three species 
have actually been recognized on our coasts, almost any may occasionally 
be seen. Specimens should be carefully examined, as any one of them may 
represent species new to the Canadian or even the North American list. 
7691G-4 
