THE ALBATROSS. 
861 
as he wings his way with the speed of an arrow during 
the most terrific storm. Gould was astonished at the 
manner in which the Albatross glided over the crests of 
the waves and into the trough beneath. The fastest 
clipper is easily overhauled by this bird; and when a 
good ship, with a fair wind, has managed to run over two 
hundred nautical miles in four-and-twenty hours, the 
Albatross finds not the slightest difficulty in competing 
with it. For days and days together this bird will fly with 
the same rapidity, and without tiring, while at the same 
time it will make circuits of miles in extent round the 
ship, and then return again from time to time to pick up 
such refuse as has been thrown overboard. Frauenfeld 
estimates the distance covered by one of these birds in a 
day at over seven hundred and twenty nautical miles. 
“It is delightful,” says Bennett, “to watch the gloriously 
graceful movements of this splendid bird, which seem to 
impel it through the air as if by some hidden force,—-for 
one can scarcely perceive the slightest motion of the 
wings after the bird has once got under way,—and one 
sees it rise and fall, in such a manner as to lead to the 
belief that these movements are brought about by some 
unknown power. The Albatross swoops down under the 
stern of the ship with an air of proud independence, as 
though he were lord of the ocean.” The small amount 
of muscular action exercised by this bird renders it able 
to keep so long on the wing without resting. When it 
sees an object floating in the water it lowers itself by 
degrees with outspread wings, stooping down or swimming 
like a Duck while it takes its food. Then the bird rises 
and glides with outspread pinions over the surface of the 
sea, from which it often seeks assistance in attaining the 
necessary impetus, until beginning to soar upwards it 
