32 
ALBATROSSES 
ORDER TUBINARES : TUBE-NOSED SWIMMERS. 
(Families Diomedeid^e and Procellariule.) 
FAMILY DIOMEDEIDiE: ALBATROSSES. 
KEY TO GENERA. 
1. Sides of lower mandible with deep longitudinal 
groove ; tail long and graduated. 
Phcebetria, p. 33. 
T. Sides of lower mandible without longitudinal 
groove ; tail short and rounded. 
2. A wide strip of bare skin from nasal tube to 
forehead . . . Thalassogeron, p. 33. 
2'. Hard plates of top and sides of bill meeting 
between nasal tubes and forehead. 
Diomedea, p. 32. 
GENUS DIOMEDEA. 
General Characters. — The horny plate on top of bill widened back of 
nostrils and meeting the plate on side of bill; wings very long; tail short, 
not reaching tip of folded wings ; size that of a large goose. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Feet, bill, and most of plumage, dusky or blackish . nigripes, p. 32. 
l'.Feet and bill yellow, plumage mainly white in adult . albatrus, p. 32. 
81. Diomedea nigripes Aud. Black-footed Albatross. 
Adults. — Face and chin whitish, top 
of head and rest of upper parts blackish, 
except for whitish tail coverts and base 
of tail; under parts sooty gray; bill 
dusky, feet black. Young: face with 
less white, and upper tail coverts dusky. 
Length: 28.50-36.00, wing 18.50-20.50, 
bill 4.00-4.25. 
Distribution. — North Pacific, abun¬ 
dant from southern California to Alaska. 
Mr. Loomis once saw an albatross at Monterey Bay when there 
was a heavy sea on, but most of the birds keep out to sea, where 
they are known to the fishermen as ‘ goonies.’ 
82. Diomedea albatrus Pall. Short-tailed Albatross. 
Adults. — Mainly white, but head and neck washed with yellowish, tail 
and most of wings dusky, primaries with yellow shafts; bill and feet 
yellowish. Young: plumage sooty brown, darker on head and neck; 
primary shafts yellowish. Length: 33-37, wing 22-23, bill 5.50-5.60. 
Distribution. — North Pacific from southern California to Alaska, but 
mainly northward. 
The large white albatross, unlike the black-footed, is so shy that 
Fig. 52. 
