3° 6 A L B A T R O S S .
frequenting thefe places Teems to be plenty of food; and their
arrival is a fure prefage of fhoals of fifh following. At their firft
coming are very lean, but foon grow immenfely fat. Are very
voracious birds, and will often fwallow a Salmon of four or five
pounds weight; but as they cannot take the whole of it into
their ftomach at once, part of the tail end will often remain out
of the mouth ; and the natives, finding the bird in this fituation,
make no difficult matter of knocking it on the head on the fpot.
Before the middle of Auguft they migrate elfewhere. They are
often taken by means of a hook baited with a fifh* j but it is not for
the fake of their fleffi that they are valued, it being hard and unfa-
vouryf, but on account of the inteftines, a particular part of
which they blow up as a bladder, to ferve as floats to buoy up
their nets in fiihing. Of the bones they make tobacco-pipes,
needle-cafes, and other ufeful things J. When caught they defend
themfelves ftoutly with the bill. Their cry is harfh and difa-
greeable, not unlike the braying of an A/s§. The breeding
places of the Albatrofs, if at all in the northern hemifphere, have
not yet been pointed ou t; but we are certain of their multiplying
in the fouthern, viz. Patagonia fl and Falkland IJlands ** : to
* Torftir mentions nine being caught with a line and hook baited with a bit
of /beep's Jkin.— Voy. i. p. 87.— Cook's Voy. i. p. 84..
t Yet they were eaten by our voyagers.—As foon as caught they were fkinned,
and foaked in falt-water till next morning ; then parboiled, and the liquor being
thrown away, flewed with frefh-water till tender; and being ferved up with fa-
voury fauce, they were much commended.— Hawke/. Voy* in. p. 66.
X The New Zealand women wear pieces of the down in the holes of their ears,
by way of ornament.— For/. Voy. i. p. 141.— Id* Ob/. p. 310.— Hawke/.
Voy* iii. p. 456.
§ Or rather like a trumpet, fuch as the children buy at fairs,— Clayton*
1J Aril* Zool* ** Clayton.* 6 this-
A L B A T R O S S .
this laft place they come about the end of September or beginning
o f Oblober, among other birds, in great abundance *. The nefts
are made on the ground with earth f , are round in fhape, a foot
in height, indented at top. The egg larger than that of a Goofe,
four inches and a half long, white, marked with dull lpots at the
bigger ends and is thought to be good food, the white never
growing hard with boiling. While the female is fitting the male
is conftantly on the wing, and fupplies her with food : during
this time are fo tame as to fuffer themfelves to be fhoved off
the neft while their eggs are taken from them but their chief
deftruftion arifes from the Hawk J, which, the moment the female
gets off the neft, darts thereon, and flies away with the egg.
The Albatrofs itfelf likewife has its enemy, being greatly perfe-
cuted while on the wing by the dark grey Gull, called Skua.
This bird attacks it on all fides, but particularly endeavours to
get beneath, which is only prevented by the firft fettling on the
water fl s and indeed they do not frequently fly at a great distance
from the furface, except obliged fo to do by high winds §,
or other caufes. As foon as the young are able to remove from
the neft, the Penguins take poffeffion, and hatch their young in
turn. It is probable that they pafs from one part of the globe to
another according to the feafon; being now and then met with,
from * A part of New Zealand is called Albatro/s Point this circumftance.—
Parkin/. Voy. p. 113.
•j* With /edges, in form of a bay •cock, three feet in height.— Ar .Zool.
j Of two forts. Penro/e.—~One of which is our New Zealand Falcon, rol. i.
P- 57-
U For/. Voy. i. p. 118.— Hiß* des Oif
$ Sometimes foars above the clouds.— Aman. Acad*
R r 2
I
■ I »
r j
'SJjTBV . jI
■ ■ a n