Steller’s Albatross — A ustin 
edly wiped out by the Japanese garrison who 
probably caught them in mist-nets for food. 
The only birds on the island were a few scat- 
tered pairs of Red-bellied Rock-Thrushes, a 
wide-ranging species which has undoubtedly 
returned there since the departure of the Jap- 
anese. No albatrosses of any species breed 
today in the Parry Group. 
We spent one day sailing around Nishi-shima, 
but again were unable to land because of the 
rough seas. This low island is only about 700 
feet long and the seas were so rough and the 
winds so high that spray was blowing com- 
pletely over it. I saw large flocks of Salvin’s 
Shearwaters, a few Bulwer’s Petrels, Black- 
footed and Laysan Albatrosses, and a single 
Spectacled Tern feeding in the tide rips just 
north of the island. It was obvious, however, 
that no albatrosses now breed on Nishi-shima. 
PESCADORES AND SOUTHERN RYUKYUS 
We know from the observations of La Touche 
(1895), Seebohm, and other early writers that 
Steller’s Albatross was a common winter bird 
in the waters from China to Formosa and the 
Ryukyus. But the statements in the Hand-List of 
Japanese Birds (1932 and 1942) that the spe- 
cies breeds in the Pescadores Islands, on Agin- 
court Island off the northern coast of Formosa, 
and on Kobisho Island in the southern Ryukyus 
are backed by indisputable specimen evidence 
only for the latter locality. 
The earliest reference to Steller’s Albatross 
on Kobisho 7 is Kuroda’s (1925: 148) remark 
that "Dr. Tsuneto told me that the bird was 
very abundant on Kobisho in Senkaku Retto 
and also on Rasa Island.” Kuroda notes that no 
specimens have been taken at either locality, 
and makes no mention of the species’ breeding. 
Kobayashi (1930: 371) states, however, "One 
egg, 118.0 x 77.5 millimeters, of Diomedea 
albatrus from Kobashima [Kobisho], Senkaku 
Retto, was given me by Mr. Takuya Iwasaki.” 
7 Lat. 25° 56' N, Long. 123° 42' E, the northern- 
most island in the Senkaku Archipelago, a little group 
of islets about 250 miles southwest of Okinawa and 
100 miles northwest of Formosa. 
291 
The former occurrence of a breeding colony 
on Agincourt Island, 8 while probable, lacks 
specimen substantiation. Dr. Kuroda tells me a 
picture of the rookery on this island, showing 
clearly identifiable adults and young birds, was 
published in a brochure on Formosa issued by 
the Japanese Government of Taiwan about 
1895. His copy was lost when his library was 
destroyed in 1945, and a search through other 
Tokyo libraries has failed to unearth a duplicate. 
The only other mention of the species on Agin- 
court is in the memoirs of Kaju Enomoto, a 
civil servant formerly employed by the Ministry 
of Agriculture and Commerce. Enomoto writes 
(1936: 29) that on April 28, 1901 
I saw Agincourt Island far on the horizon, 
but our ship did not approach within 4 miles of 
it, so I could not identify any of the birds on 
the island. The Captain, who was an experi- 
enced man in those waters, told me "Numerous 
albatrosses live on this island, but you can’t find 
many of them now because it is not the breed- 
ing season.” 
The same Enomoto is apparently the only 
authority for the statement that Steller’s Alba- 
tross bred in the Pescadores. In the continua- 
tion of his memoirs (1937: 8) he relates 
I once stayed in the Pescadores for about one 
year when birds were still plentiful. During my 
stay I had the chance to observe albatrosses. 
While my observations may not be satisfactory, 
I regard them as valuable because wild birds 
have decreased so tremendously in recent Japan, 
and you can observe albatrosses now in Japan 
only on far-away Torishima. 
It was the last of February in 1902 when I 
saw the most albatrosses. The weather being 
calm, I had an opportunity to make a trip on 
the patrol ship of the local Pescadores govern- 
ment. During the voyage I saw albatrosses 
crowding on Byo-sho. 9 The hatching season was 
almost over, and it was the season when the 
parent birds do not stay on land in the daytime. 
Nevertheless numerous birds were seen, and I 
was delighted with the opportunity. But as the 
8 Hoka-sho of the Japanese, 25° 38' N, 122° 04' 
E, about 45 miles due north of Formosa. 
9 A small islet in the extreme southwest of the Pesca- 
dores group, 23° 19" N, 119° 8" E. [Author’s note.] 
