244 
Sketch of 
After an examination of certainly more than 100 
nests, I only once found two eggs in the same nest. The 
albatross’s greatest enemy is a fierce raptorial species 
of gull, of a brown colour, having one toe on each foot, 
armed with a strong curved claw, and very much re¬ 
sembling the Lestris parasiticus , or Arctic gull, in its 
predatory habits and general aspect. It has a geogra¬ 
phical range from Kerguelen’s Land, where I first met 
with it, to 78° south. This bird is ever on the watch for 
the albatross quitting its nest, when it instantly pounces 
down on the egg, which I have seen it break and com¬ 
mence devouring with the greatest impudence, when I 
have not been more than a few paces from the nest at 
the time. 
So well is the albatross aware of its enemy, that it 
snaps its beak in defiance whenever it observes this 
marauder flying over its nest. It appears to be an 
undescribed species. Four or five kinds of petrel were 
breeding under ground in the holes of the cliffs over¬ 
hanging the bay. 
The oceanic birds met with after leaving Campbell 
Island were albatrosses, petrels, and penguins : of the 
former, three kinds :— Diomedia fuliginosa, D. exulans , 
and a smaller black-backed one. Of the petrels, Pro - 
cellaria gigantea , P . Capensis , P. pelagica , and about 
six other species, with now and then a raptorial gull. 
On crossing the Antarctic circle, the white petrel— 
the most beautiful of its tribe—was first seen, and con¬ 
tinued with us as far south as the Barrier, in 78° lat., 
again leaving us on our return to the northward of the 
circle; so that it would appear its geographical range is 
limited to within the Antarctic circle—at least during 
the summer season in these regions. Its food consists 
of small fishes and shrimps, in search of which it 
gracefully skims the surface of the sea—now and then 
