706 
FOREST AND STREAM 
December, 1918 
THE BIRD OF THE ANCIENT MARINER 
THE WANDERING ALBATROSS, LARGEST AND MOST EFFICIENT FLYING CREATURE OF THE 
MODERN WORLD, RETURNS FROM OCEAN WANDERING TO SUB-ANTARTIC BREEDING GROUNDS 
' I ' HIS photograph of Wandering Alba- 
trosses ( Diomedea exulans) at their 
nest was made at South Georgia, a sub- 
antarctic island twelve hundred miles east 
of Cape Horn, on December 22, 1912. These 
magnificent birds are the monoplanes of 
the sea, and the largest and most efficient 
flying creatures of the modern world. In 
November, the May of the southern hemi¬ 
sphere, they return from their ocean wan¬ 
derings to the island breeding grounds, 
and begin their elaborate courtship pro¬ 
cedure, which consists of a series of 
minuet-like dances with a vocal accompani¬ 
ment of squeals, caterwauls, and gobbles. 
As soon as two birds have 
mated, they scrape together' 
the peaty soil to form the 
high, truncated cone which 
serves as a nest, and, after 
the single egg is laid, they 
take turns in incubating. 
The splendid male in this 
home scene is as white as 
the fluffy, new-fallen snow 
in the tussock grass, save 
for his wings and the fine 
vermiculations on his back. 
The pair is illustrating both 
monocular and bifocal 
vision, for each bird is 
looking at the photog¬ 
rapher. The male has 
thrown out the erectile 
feathers of his “eyebrows,” 
an action which quite 
changes the apparent shape 
of the head, and which 
usually accompanies intense 
interest. The prominent 
“elbows” of these birds re¬ 
veal the great length of the 
wings as compared with 
the stumpy tail. 
r HE Natural History Department 
has been for nearly half a 
century a clearing-house for infor¬ 
mation of interest to all. Qur read¬ 
ers are invited to send any questions 
that come under the head of this de¬ 
partment to Robert Cushman Mur¬ 
phy, in care of Forest and Stream. 
Mr. Murphy, who is Curator of the 
Department of Natural Science in 
the Brooklyn Museum, will answer 
through these columns. [Editors.] 
Wandering Albatrosses at their nest in South Georgia 
The wandering albatross is the bird of 
the ’’Ancient Mariner,” and is a true em¬ 
bodiment of the spirit of the illimitable 
ocean. The splendid creatures nest in 
large colonies on the islets and grassy 
promontories of the Bay of Isles, South 
Georgia, where I spent several weeks in 
1912-1913. In December, many of the 
dark-colored young of the previous year, 
with patches of gray down clinging to their 
plumage feathers, were still lingering about 
the colonies. But with the advent of a new 
breeding season, these backward young¬ 
sters were no longer fed by their parents, 
so they soon learned to fly and went off 
to sea. 
The wooing of the albatross is one of the 
marvels of the bird world. An unattached 
female is commonly besieged by several 
suitors, whose advances are most amusing 
as they throw forward their breasts, 
stretch out one or both of their great 
wings, and squeal beseechingly, each trying 
to confine the female’s attention exclusively 
to himself. Now and then a male will turn 
upon his rivals, expressing his opinion of 
them in a gobbling jargon which is doubt¬ 
less intended to be abusive. They threaten 
each other, too, with their terrible beaks, 
but I saw no actual fighting. For a time 
the female wisely distributes her favor 
about equally among the wooers, but when 
a choice has finally been made the disap¬ 
pointed males walk away with heads sway¬ 
ing from side to side, and hung almost to 
the ground. They have a diabolical look, 
like the outwitted villain in a melodrama, 
and it is easy to imagine that dark and 
sinister thoughts occupy their minds. 
The nest of the wandering albatross is 
a cone of earth and tussock stalks. On 
this platform the bride sits with her mate 
squatting in front of her. They cross their 
bills, stroke one another’s necks, and chat¬ 
ter, making the mandibles vibrate so rapid¬ 
ly that only a blur can be seen. Some¬ 
times they point their bills straight upward 
and squeal like young pigs. A resonant 
clap of the bill, and an assortment of 
grunts, gobbles, and cater¬ 
wauls complete the song 
repertory. Now and then 
the male rises, takes a few 
stately, deliberate steps, and 
then poses before his lady 
with head held high and 
both wings outspread — 
eleven feet from tip to tip— 
a come-to-my-arms attitude 
indeed. This seems to be a 
sign for the female to come 
off the nest; the male steps 
on and takes his mate’s 
place, bowing, and declar¬ 
ing his devotion without 
cessation. 
Either the male or the 
female parent may begin to 
sit upon the new-laid egg, 
while the other flies off to 
sea to feed upon squids, re¬ 
maining away, according to 
my records, for a period of 
from six to ten days. The 
patient sitter never stirs 
from its task—s 1 e e p i n g 
much of the time with head 
under wing, basking con¬ 
tentedly in the sunshine, or huddling low 
beneath the williwaws and blizzards. If an 
enemy, such as a skua gull, approaches, the 
albatross will chatter its bill angrily and 
swear. Toward men it shows neither fear 
nor dislike, but looks up calmly with its 
large, lustrous, expressive, brown eyes, and 
never moves more than to rotate on the 
nest so as to meet its visitor face to face. 
Every day it spends more or less time per¬ 
fecting its nest. It bends its neck over the 
edge, scratches up the soft peaty soil all 
around the base, and plasters and smooths 
the sides with it. Consequently most of 
the nests have a very neat and finished ap¬ 
pearance. Every little while the bird will 
(continued on page 728) 
