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THE ALBATROSS. 
completely uncovered, and the old ones stalking 
around them. Each bird lays but one egg, and, after 
the young one is hatched, it has to remain a year 
before it can fly. 
Their style of courtship, and of selecting their 
mates, is described as very ludicrous. The couple 
approach one another with great apparent cere- 
mony, bringing their beaks repeatedly together, 
swinging their heads, and contemplating each other 
with very deliberate attention. Sometimes this will 
continue for two hours together, like a courtship in 
a pantomime. They have great power in their 
beaks, and, when on the nest, they will defend 
themselves for half an hour against an active dog. 
Their eggs are inferior to those of Geese, and they 
have less yolk, and more white, in proportion to 
their size, weighing generally about one pound and 
three quarters. All birds, of the Albatross and Gull 
kind, on these islands, lay their eggs in October; 
and, when new laid, they are a great source of re- 
freshment. Yoyagers mention another large bird, 
called the Nelly-bird, also a species of Albatross, 
( Diomedea spadicea ,) of an unpleasing appearance, 
and extremely voracious. Their fondness for blubber 
often induces them to eat so much, that, like the 
gorged Gull we have described, they are unable to 
fly. A flock, of perhaps five or six hundred, have 
been known to devour twenty tons of sea elephant 
fat in six or eight hours ; that is, upwards of seventy 
pounds for each. The Albatross will, at one gulp, 
swallow a salmon of four or five pounds weight, but 
if more be taken, and the whole will not go into 
the stomach, the bird is often seen with the 
