294 
could possibly support a breeding colony of 
birds. Needless to say, I studied carefully every 
albatross that came within sight during the 
entire trip. If Steller’s Albatross were still breed- 
ing in this area, I should have seen some sign 
of it, either on the islands or on the seas nearby. 
There was no scarcity of Black-footed and Lay- 
san Albatrosses at sea in this area, both seeming 
to occur in normal numbers, although the Black- 
footed outnumbered the Laysan about fifteen to 
one. Despite the most careful watch, I saw no 
albatrosses close to or on any of the islands, and 
no sign whatever of any bird that could con- 
ceivably be construed as Steller’s Albatross dur- 
ing the entire voyage. 
The chances that any of these fine birds re- 
main alive today are remote indeed, unless they 
be a few old individuals perhaps beyond the 
breeding age, which spend all their time at sea 
and never come to the breeding islands. Al- 
though their known former rookeries are all 
small isolated islands far off the beaten tracks 
of commerce, and extremely difficult of access, 
the waters surrounding them have swarmed 
with Japanese, Chinese, and Okinawan fishermen 
for the last 50 years, except for a brief period 
late in and immediately after World War II. 
No person interested in birds or able to differen- 
tiate between the three North Pacific albatrosses 
has visited any of the known breeding grounds 
of Steller’s Albatross in the southern Ryukyus 
and off Formosa. But it is hard to believe that 
any islet exists in this area which has not been 
visited many times by Oriental fishing boats in 
the 16 years since the last known Steller’s Al- 
batross was killed. It is equally unlikely that 
any of these craft would pass by an out-of-the- 
way island with a bird on it without its crew 
attempting to land and kill the bird. Policing 
these islands to prevent such depredations is 
well nigh impossible, both politically and eco- 
nomically. Although there is always the possi- 
bility that a few pairs may remain on some 
isolated, as yet unvisited islet, it seems only too 
likely that Steller’s Albatross has become one of 
PACIFIC SCIENCE, Vol. Ill, October, 1949 
the more recent victims of man’s thoughtless- 
ness and greed. 
REFERENCES 
Bent, A. C. 1922. Life histones of North Amer- 
ican Petrels and Pelicans and their allies. U. S. 
Natl. Mus. Bui. 121. 343 pp., 69 pis. 
Bryan, A. 1902. A monograph of Marcus Is- 
land. Bernice P. Bishop Mus., Occas. Papers 
2: 77-116. 
Cassin, John. 1858. Mammalogy and Ornitho- 
logy. In: United States Exploring Expedition. 
viii + 466 pp. J. B. Lippincott & Co., Phila- 
delphia. 
Enomoto, Kaju. 1936. My memories of birds, 
Part III. fin Japanese], Yacho 3 (11): 29- 
32. 
1937. My memories of birds, Part IV. 
fin Japanese], Yacho 4 (11): 7-11. 
Godman, F. du Cane. 1910. A monograph of 
the. Petrels, Part V. 84 pp. f297— 381]. 
Witherby, London. 
Hattori, Toru. 1889. The story of the Alba- 
tross of Torishima fin Japanese]. Zool. Mag. 
( Dohutsugaku Zasshi ), Tokyo. 1 ( 12 ) : 405- 
411. 
Kobayashi, Keisuke. 1930. On a collection of 
birds and eggs from the Riukiu Islands fin 
Japanese]. Tori 6 (30) : 341-382. 
— and Takeo Ishizawa. 1932-1940. 
The eggs of Japanese birds. 2 vols., 16 pts. 235 
pp., 67 col. pis. Keisuke Kobayashi, Kobe. 
Kuroda, Nagamichi. 1925. Avifauna of the 
RiuKiu Islands, vi -f- 293 pp., 8 col. pis., 1 
map. Author, Tokyo. 
La Touche, J. D. D. 1895. Notes on South 
Formosa and its birds. Ibis 1895: 305-338. 
— 1934. A handbook of the birds of 
Eastern China. Vol. 2, pt. 5. 566 pp. Taylor 
and Francis, London. 
Loomis, L. M. 1918. A review of the Alba- 
trosses, Petrels and Diving Petrels. Calif. 
Acad. Sci., Proc. IV, 2 (pt. 2, no. 12) : 1-187, 
pis. 1-17. 
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 
Tokyo. 1930-44. Annual hunting statistics. 
fin Japanese.] Bureau of Forestry, Tokyo. 
1933. Bird banding statistics for 1932. 
fin Japanese.] fMimeo.] 30 pp. Bureau of 
Forestry, Tokyo. 
1934. Bird banding statistics for 1933. 
fin Japanese.] fMimeo.] 41 pp. Bureau of 
Forestry, Tokyo. 
