243 
the Antarctic Regions. 
ubject to heavy squalls, but would be much improved on 
sclearing the land ; and the harbours are excellent. 
In Campbell Island I did not meet with a single land 
bird, which is rather extraordinary; as the island, 
although much less wooded than Auckland, nevertheless 
has many of its valleys thickly clothed with underwood ; 
the general character of the vegetation is very similar, 
and the latitude not much farther south. 
The water birds consist of a New Zealand species of 
duck, a Merganser , a species of Phalacrocorax , a 
Scolopax , an Aptenodytes , and two species of Larus (the 
black-backed and small ash-backed gulls), frequenting 
the bays in abundance. 
The albatross ( T)iomedia exidans) was breeding in 
both islands in vast numbers; and at the season of 
incubation (November and December) is so unwilling to 
take wing, that it may be easily caught with the hand 
without making an attempt to escape. In pairing, they 
assemble together in groups. I have counted as many 
as thirteen birds collected together on the side of a hill, 
going through various grotesque movements of the head 
and neck, bringing their beaks in conjunction ; and this 
wooing lasts till each bird has selected its future mate, 
when the construction of the nest begins, in which both 
male and female take a share. 
The nest consists of a mound of soil, intermingled 
with withered grass and leaves matted together, 18 
inches in height, 6 feet in circumference at the base, and 
27 inches in diameter at the top. The albatross, like 
most of the petrel tribe, lays only one egg, of a white 
colour, averaging about 17 oz. in weight, which the bird 
resolutely defends, snapping the mandibles of its beak 
together sharply when forced by any intruder from off its 
nest, in which it is most frequently found sleeping, with 
its head behind its wing. 
