Part 30

The WANDERING ALBATROSS (Diomedea exulans), called by some the Cape Sheep, is, with the exception of its black wings, entirely pure white. In young birds the plumage is banded and marked with various shades of brown. The eye is dark brown, the naked eyelid pale green; the bill is reddish white, with yellow tip; and the foot yellowish white. According to measurements made by Bennett, this species is three feet ten inches long, and the spread of the wings eleven feet eight inches; this latter measurement is, however, subject to variation, some being not more that ten feet, and others as much as fourteen feet across the wings.

The habitat of the Wandering Albatross is confined within no particular limits, it is, however, most abundant between 30° and 60° south latitude, and is equally numerous in all parts of the Southern Ocean. The wide ocean is its natural range, and this it never leaves except for the purpose of breeding, when it usually resorts to inaccessible rocky islands.

"The powers of flight of the Wandering Albatross," says Gould, "are much greater than those of any other bird that has come under my observation. Although during calm or moderate weather it sometimes rests on the surface of the water, it is almost constantly on the wing, and is equally at ease while passing over the glassy surface during the stillest calm, or flying with meteor-like swiftness before the most furious gale." Although a vessel running before the wind frequently sails more than 200 miles in twenty-four hours, and that for days together, still the Albatross has not the slightest difficulty in keeping up with the ship, but also performs circles of many miles in extent, returning from these excursions to the wake of the vessel in order to obtain any substances thrown overboard.

"It is pleasing," writes Bennett, "to observe this superb bird sailing in the air in graceful and elegant movements, seemingly excited by some invisible power, for there is rarely any movement of the wings seen after the first and frequent impulses given when the creature elevates itself in the air; rising and falling without any muscular exertion of its own, and then descending, sweeps the air close to the stern of the ship with an independence of manner as if he were monarch of all he surveyed. It is from the very little muscular exertion used by these birds that they are capable of sustaining such long flights without repose. When seizing an object floating on the water, they gradually descend with expanded or upraised wings, or sometimes alight and float like a Duck on the water while devouring their food; then elevating themselves, they skim the ocean with expanded wings, giving frequent impulses, as the great length of their wings prevents their rising with facility from a level surface, as they run along for some distance until they again soar in mid-air, and recommence their erratic flights." Like other species of the genus, this Albatross is nocturnal as well as diurnal in its habits; no bird takes so little repose; indeed, it appears to be constantly on the wing, scanning the surface of the ocean for the molluscs, medusæ, and other marine animals that constitute its food. The Wandering Albatross breeds in the rocky islands of the Southern Ocean during the months of November and December. The grass-covered declivities of the hills, above thickets of wood, are the spots usually selected for its nest, which consists of a mound of earth intermingled with grass and leaves. The nest is about eighteen inches high and six feet in circumference at its base, whilst the opening at the top is about twenty-seven inches in diameter. The eggs are white, and from fourteen and a half to nineteen ounces in weight.

"The Albatross," says Dr. McCormick, "frequently sleeps with its head under its wing during the period of incubation, its beautiful white head and neck above the grass betraying its situation from a considerable distance. If approached, it resolutely defends its egg, and if forced off the nest, slowly moves away to a short distance, but does not take wing. A fierce species of Lestris watches keenly for any opportunity of seizing the eggs, and so well aware is the Albatross of its hostile intentions, that he snaps his beak violently whenever he observes the Lestris overhead." The female usually lays but one egg; the young bird is entirely white, and covered with a beautiful woolly down.

THE YELLOW-BILLED ALBATROSS.

The YELLOW-BILLED ALBATROSS (Diomedea chlororhynchus) is smaller than the above species. In the adult birds the plumage is principally white with brownish black rump and wings of the same colour; the tail-feathers are brownish grey shafted with white; the bill is black with orange-red culmen.

This species is abundant off the Cape of Good Hope, and also in the seas between the African shores and Tasmania. Gould observed it off Capes Howe and Northumberland on the southern coast of Australia, and Gilbert tells us that he saw it flying on the western coast about Rottnest Island, in short, its presence may be expected throughout the temperate zones of the southern hemisphere.

THE SOOTY OR BLACK ALBATROSS.

The SOOTY or BLACK ALBATROSS (Diomedea or Phœbetria fuliginosa) is principally of a dark sooty grey; the head and wings are brown. In this species the tail is wedge-shaped.

The Sooty or Black Albatross, one of the commonest species, is universally spread over all temperate latitudes south of the equator. According to Latham, these birds breed on the Island of Tristan d'Acunha, and are gregarious, many of them building their nests close to each other; in the area of half an acre were reckoned upwards of a hundred. The nest is of mud, raised five or six inches, and slightly depressed at the top; when the young are more than half-grown they are covered with a whitish down; they stand on their respective hillocks like statues, until approached close, when they make a strange clattering with their beaks, and if touched squirt a deluge of fetid oily fluid from the nostrils. "The Black Albatross is common," says Layard, "along the south coast of Africa, at a little distance from the land. It is fond of hovering over a ship's deck, and I have obtained specimens by sending a small rifle bullet through them, thus killing them instantly; if struck with shot, their feathers are so dense that they seldom receive a death wound, but drift seaward and perish miserably. I have never observed any of the other Albatrosses hover over the deck as this bird constantly does; I have seen it almost touch a man on the royal yard. On these occasions it seems actuated by curiosity, and keeps turning its head from side to side, scanning everything with its brilliant dark eye." The eggs of this species resemble those of D. exulans, but are somewhat smaller, being about four inches two lines long by two inches six lines broad.

All the birds belonging to this family are oceanic, nevertheless each species seems to confine its occupancy within certain zones or climates. They are less numerously met with in the torrid zone than in the more temperate and colder regions, and are more abundant in the southern than in the northern hemisphere. During the breeding season they resort to the coasts, but the greater part of their life is spent upon the open sea. They can scarcely be said to walk, but they swim with ease and buoyancy, still they seldom alight upon the water, passing by far the greater part of their lives upon the wing. From the deck of a ship they may be seen pertinaciously accompanying it for whole days together, sweeping constantly along with an unbroken equable pace, mounting gently over the crests of the highest waves, plunging headlong into the valleys between them, only staying their course now and then for a moment, to enable them to pick up any stray morsel thrown from the ship, or seen floating upon the water. They are less capable of diving than most other sea-birds, probably from the difficulty they must encounter in submerging their soft thick plumage. They are even more saucily obtrusive than the Albatrosses, and will fearlessly seize upon any proffered bait, even when they have seen their fellow caught with a hook and line. Their food, besides fishes, consists of any animal substances that may be found floating on the waves. Their voracity is almost insatiable; with the prospect of a feast before them, they think nothing of danger, and will even allow themselves to be knocked down with sticks, or caught with the hand. The Petrels breed in the vicinity of the sea, generally upon solitary and almost inaccessible rocks. They can hardly be said to make a nest, but lay their eggs on the bare ground, and immediately commence the work of incubation. Their eggs are broad in proportion to their length, coarse-shelled, and of a pure white, without any markings. The young when hatched are covered with grey down; they grow very slowly, but are carefully tended by their parents, who defend them by ejecting fetid oil from their crops in the face of the assailant. After the young are able to fly, the families distribute themselves over the surface of the sea. They are sociable birds, and may sometimes be seen keeping together in considerable flocks.

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The TRUE PETRELS (Procellariæ) in their general appearance present a certain resemblance to the Sea Gulls, from which, however, they are easily distinguished by their rounder head, high forehead, and smaller wings. The Petrels are powerfully built, short-necked, and large-headed; their beak is shorter than the head, strong, hard, and so deeply furrowed upon the sides that its point seems a mere appendage fastened to it, forming at the extremity of the upper jaw a strongly-bent hook, and upon the under jaw a peculiarly-formed angular termination. The cutting edges of the mandibles overlap each other and are very sharp; the gape opens backwards as far as the eye; the apertures of the nostrils are situated in a horny pipe consisting of two tubes consolidated into one in such a manner that the longitudinal division between them is perceptible; the foot is moderately strong, the tarsus short and compressed laterally, the three front toes are connected together by a well-developed swimming web, but the hinder toe is only represented by a little rudimentary appendage. The wings are very similar to those of Sea Gulls, but are shorter and more pointed, the first quill being invariably longer than the rest. The tail, which consists of twelve or fourteen feathers, is more or less rounded at the extremity. The general plumage is rich, and thicker above than below, indeed, on the under part it is very soft and fur-like. The two sexes are alike in colour, and even the young differ but slightly from the old birds, neither do their colours alter perceptibly with the seasons.

THE GIANT PETREL.

The GIANT PETREL (Procellaria [Ossifragus] gigantea) may be regarded as holding a position intermediate between the Albatross and the Storm Petrels. In this bird the plumage is deep chocolate-brown. The eye is blackish brown; beak horn-grey, with red tip. The young bird is more lightly coloured, and has a silvery white eye. The length of this species is about two feet eight inches, and the spread of the wings from four feet and a half to five feet.

The habitat of the Giant Petrel extends over the temperate and antarctic zones of the southern hemisphere.

Captain Hutton tells us that "this bird breeds in the cliffs of Prince Edward's Island and Kerguelen's Land, but the nests can be got at occasionally. The young are at first covered with a beautiful, long, light grey down; when fledged they are dark brown, mottled with white. When a person approaches the nest, the old birds keep a short distance away, while the young ones squirt a horribly-smelling oil out of their mouths to the distance of six or eight feet. It is very voracious, hovering over the sealers when engaged cutting up a seal, and devouring the carcase the moment it is left, which the Albatross never does. It sometimes chases the smaller species, but whether or not it can catch birds possessed apparently of powers of flight superior to its own is doubtful; but supposing one is killed, that it feeds only upon its heart and liver, I can never believe, yet it is said to do so in the works of many ornithologists."

THE FULMAR PETREL.

The FULMAR PETREL (Procellaria glacialis) is principally white, light silvery grey upon the under side, and blueish grey upon the mantle. The primary quills are black, the eye is brown, the beak along the culmen pale horn-yellow, at its base greyish green. The foot is yellow, with a shade of blue. In young birds the plumage on the under side of the body is slightly blueish. The length of this species is eighteen or nineteen inches, its breadth forty-one to forty-three inches, the length of its wings twelve to thirteen inches, length of tail four inches and two-thirds.

The Fulmar Petrel lives in the Arctic Ocean, from which it rarely strays, unless driven away by violent storms. In more southern seas it is represented by a kindred species resembling it so closely that the two were often mistaken for each other. The Island of St. Kilda, and Grünso near Iceland, are looked upon as its most southern breeding-places. Like all its kindred, it is an inhabitant of the wide sea, and, except during its breeding season, only comes to dry land when lost and bewildered by a fog, or wearied out by the long continuance of a storm. In North Greenland it is said to be seen oftener than elsewhere upon the coasts, and in the bays and harbours. Their specific name glacialis has not been very happily given to these birds, as they seem to avoid rather than seek large accumulations of ice; indeed, all pilots hold their presence to be a sure sign of open water. The flight of this Petrel very much resembles that of the Ivory Gull. The sailor gazes with admiration as he sees it with outspread, almost motionless wings, glide like a meteor over the waves or battling with the storm for days together, apparently without allowing itself the slightest repose. It seems to have not the slightest fear of man; it approaches ships with the utmost confidence, and is rather importunate in its visits to the whale-fishers, more especially should they be engaged in cutting up a whale.

"The Fulmar," says Captain Scoresby, "is the constant companion of the whale-fisher. It joins his ship immediately on passing the Shetland Islands, and accompanies it through the trackless ocean to the highest accessible latitudes. It keeps an eager watch for every thing thrown overboard; the smallest particle of fatty substance can scarcely escape it. Though few should be seen when a whale is about being captured, yet, as soon as the flensing process commences, they rush in from all quarters and frequently accumulate to many thousands in number. They then occupy the greasy track of the ships; and, being audaciously greedy, fearlessly advance within a few yards of the men employed in cutting up the whale. It is highly amusing to see the voracity with which they seize the pieces of fat that fall in their way; the size and quantity of the pieces they take at a meal; the curious chuckling noise, which in their anxiety for dispatch, they always make; and the jealousy with which they view, the boldness with which they attack, any of their species that are engaged in devouring the finest morsels. When carrion is scarce, the Fulmars follow the living whale, and sometimes by their peculiar motions when hovering at the surface of the water, point out to the fisher the position of the animal of which he is in pursuit. They cannot, however, make much impression on the dead whale until some more powerful animal tears away the skin, for this is too tough for them to make their way through."

In high latitudes the Fulmars build their nests in every available island, as far south as St. Kilda. Upon the Westmanoer, near Iceland, its nests are more numerous than those of any other birds that breed in that vicinity; some estimate of the numerous flocks in which it visits those parts may be formed from the numbers killed, amounting annually, as Faber informs us, to at least 20,000. Their numbers seem to be steadily on the increase, in spite of the persecution to which they are subject. Their nests are very generally placed beyond the reach of the bird-catchers, notwithstanding that they are let down by ropes when in search of them, and pursue them upon every ledge and in every crevice to which they can possibly find access. The Fulmar Petrel begins to congregate around its breeding-places in March, about the beginning of May, or sometimes towards the middle of April; each pair lays a single egg, which is round, of a pure white colour, either upon the bare surface of the rock, or in some slight depression made or discovered in the scanty soil.

The Fulmar Petrel is only a rare visitor to England, but it frequents in great numbers the islands of St. Kilda and Borrera; it is said also to breed in some of the islands of the Hebrides.

Mr. John Macgillivray, who visited St. Kilda, its principal breeding-place, in June, 1840, gives the following account:--

"This bird exists here in almost incredible numbers, and to the natives is by far the most important of the productions of the island. It forms one of the principal means of support to the inhabitants, who daily risk their lives in its pursuit. The Fulmar breeds on the face of the highest precipices, and only on such as are furnished with small grassy shelves, every spot on which, above a few inches in extent, is occupied with one or more of its nests. The nest is formed of herbage, seldom bulky, generally a mere excavation in the turf, lined with dried grass, and the withered tufts or the sea-pink, in which the bird deposits a single egg of a pure white colour, when clean, which is seldom the case, and varying in size from two inches seven lines to three inches one line in length, by two inches in breadth. On the 30th of June, having partially descended a nearly perpendicular precipice, six hundred feet in height, the whole face of which was covered with the nests of the Fulmar, I enjoyed an opportunity of watching the habits of this bird, and describing them from personal observation. The nests had all been robbed about a month before by the natives, who esteem the eggs of this species above all others. Many of the nests contained each a young bird, a day or two old at farthest, thickly covered with long white down. The birds were very clamorous on being handled, and vomited a quantity of clear oil, with which I sometimes observed the parent birds feeding them by disgorging it. The old birds on being seized instantly vomit a quantity of clear amber-coloured oil, which imparts to the whole bird, its nest, and young, and even to the rock it frequents, a peculiar and very disagreeable odour. Fulmar oil is the most valuable production of St. Kilda. The best is obtained from the old bird, by surprising it at night upon the rock, and tightly closing the bill until the fowler has secured the bird between his knees, head downwards. By opening the bill the Fulmar is allowed to disgorge about a tablespoonful of oil, or rather more, into the dried gullet and stomach of a Solar Goose, used as a reservoir for that purpose. These receptacles when filled are secured with a string and hung on cords across the interior of the huts until required for use. Besides supplying their lamps, this oil is used by the inhabitants of the island as a medicine. In the beginning of August the natives descend the rocks for young Fulmars, which are then nearly fledged, and, by boiling in water, are made to furnish a large quantity of fat, which is skimmed off and preserved in a solid form. The old Fulmar is much esteemed by the St. Kildians, on account of its subcutaneous covering of fat, of which they are immoderately fond."

THE CAPE PETREL.

The CAPE PETREL (Procellaria or Daption Capensis) is another species well known to mariners, as it has been recently killed in Europe. The length of this bird is fourteen and its breadth thirty-two inches. Its plumage may be described as white, variegated with black upon the mantle in such a manner that without much stretch of fancy it might be compared to the black and white squares of a chessboard; the greater part of the upper surface is soot-black, or black speckled with white; the under surface is white; the quills and tail-feathers tipped with black at their extremities. The geographical distribution of these birds is remarkable. In the Atlantic Ocean they are only to be met with beyond the tropic of Capricorn, and it is a very rare occurrence to see one of them within the limits of the torrid zone, or in any part of the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, they are very common, more especially upon the west coast of South America, as far north as the equator. If captured in fine weather, when the sea is smooth, and they are able to obtain their usual food, their stomach is found to contain little except the remains of the marine animals upon which they feed, small crustaceans, molluscs, and fishes; but during stormy weather, when they are unable to obtain their ordinary nourishment, they become so voracious that they will swallow almost anything. In the stomachs of individuals captured by Tschudi during a continuance of bad weather, he found a most miscellaneous collection both of eatable and uneatable substances--beans, peas, and lentils, mutton bones, oakum, leather, slices of cabbage, leaves and ship-biscuits, pieces of wood, and, in short, everything that had accidentally fallen from the ship, or been intentionally thrown overboard. In fine weather the Cape Petrels appear to be shy and distrustful; but during a storm, driven apparently by hunger, they become positively reckless, and are very easily captured. The way in which, under these circumstances, they are caught by sailors is simple enough; a bent pin is tied to the end of a strong string, to serve as a hook and line, a piece of bread or bacon is used for bait, and no sooner is this thrown overboard than it is seized upon by a bird, which, by a well-timed jerk of the string, becomes hooked through the upper jaw, and is at once pulled on board. In very stormy weather it naturally happens that so light a bait never reaches the water, but is suspended fluttering in the wind; yet even under these circumstances they will fly at it with the utmost avidity, and if not caught by the hook, generally become so entangled by the string that they are unable to escape. When drawn into the ship they defend themselves valiantly with their beak, and moreover have an ugly trick of squirting from their mouth right into the face of their enemy a loathsome, stinking, oily fluid, which certainly to some extent avenges them for the treatment they experience. When killed, they are skinned by the sailors, and their skins made into weathercocks, the only use to which they seem to be applicable.