DtomEDEA, Lin. &C. ALBATROSS Bill very long, very stout, sharp-edged, compressed, straight, suddenly curved, uppermost mandible channelled on the sides, and much hooked, the undermost smooth and truncated at the extremity ; nostrils lateral, remote from the base, tubular, covered on the sides, and open in front ; legs short, with only three very long toes, quite webbed ; wings very long and very narrow, with the pri mary quills short, and the secondary longer.
D exulans, Lin. &c. Wondering Albatross, or Man of War Bird, Cape Sheep of mariners. Mantle grey-hrown, with black hatchings on the back and wings, and all the under parts of the body white ; bill yellowish ; feet reddish brown. But the colours of the plumage are not constant. From three and a half to four feet long; extent of wing from ten to thirteen feet ; size exceeding that of a swan ; and weight from twelve to twenty-eight pounds. Its mode of flight is somewhat remarkable ; for one cannot perceive any motion of its wings, except at the moment when it raises itself into the air, when it also frequently makes several strokes against the water with its webbed feet. This impulse being once given, it seems to have no longer occasion to flap its wings, but holds them very widely expanded whilst it glides along, balancing its body alter nately from right to left, and skimming rapidly over the surface of the sea in quest of food. It is extremely vora cious, preying on salmon that are found in shoals in the mouths of rivers, on the flying fish when forced out of the water by the Coryphama, and on other fishes, which it swallows whole, and in such quantities, as to be occa sionally prevented by their weight from rising. It like wise feeds on mollusca, and is itself attacked by the sea eagle, skua gull, and other birds of prey, its courage being very disproportionate to its dimensions. When encum bered with an overloaded stomach, these birds, on the ap proach of a boat, or other alarm, disgorge the yet undi gested morsels, that they may more easily fly off. But they seldom soar aloft, except in stormy weather ; and they may often be seen at a great distance from land, re posing or sleeping on the water, or alighting on the rig ging of ships. Their cry has been to that of
the pelican ; and they sometimes utter a noise like the braying of an ass. Although they are met with in most seas, they chiefly occur between the tropics, at the Cape of Good Hope, and among the icy islands of the South Sea. Towards the end of June they likewise migrate in thousands to the coasts of Kamtschatka, the Sea of Ochotsk, the Kurile archipelago, and Bheering's Island, arriving in a state of extreme leanness, but soon acquiring plumpness by their abundant captures of fish at the mouths of rivers. They abandon these latitudes about the end of July or the beginning of August. On the coast of South America, they construct, in September, rude and round nests of earth or mud on the ground, and from one to three feet high ; whereas, in the Island of Tristan da Cunha, ac cording to Captain Carmichael, they merely choose a dry spot of ground, and give it a slight concavity, to prevent the egg from rolling out of its place. The egg is white, very large, and of a peculiar shape, being very long in proportion to its diameter, and equally thick, or nearly so, at both ends. Although eatable, its white portion is said not to coagulate by boiling. The Kaintschadales catch these birds with rude hooks, baited with fish, chiefly for the sake of the bones of the wings, which they convert to various domestic uses. In the high latitudes, mariners who have been long deprived of the comfort of fresh pro visions, sometimes contrive to eat the birds themselves with relish, by previously skinning them, then steeping them for twenty-four hours in salt water, boiling them, and serving them up with some pungent sauce. A piece of sheep's skin, put on a large hook, will often suffice as a line. When taken, they toss themselves about with great violence, and endeavour to assail their captors with their bill.
D. fuliginosa, Lath. Sec. Sooty Albatross, or Quaker Bird. General plumage brown ; head, bill, tail, quill feathers, and claws, sooty brown ; area of the eyes white. Inhabits the Southern Ocean, and chiefly within the Ant arctic Circle. In November and December the sooty al batrosses are gregarious, building their nests close to one another.