DIOMEDEA CHLORORHYNCHOS, Lath.
Yellow-billed Albatros.

 

Diomedea chlororhynchos, Lath. Ind. Orn., vol. ii. p. 790.—Gmel. Edit. Lin. Syst. Nat., vol. 1. p. 568.—Linn. Trans.,
vol. xii. p. 490.—Temm. PI. Col. 468.—Less. Traité de @nne, ps O09:

Yellow-nosed Albatros, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. v. p. 309. pl. xcix.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. x. p. 52. pl. clxix.—Steph.
Cont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 262.

Diomedea chrysostoma, Forst. Drawings, and Lichtenstein’s Edit. of Forster’s MSS., p. 24.

Woél-wool, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia.

 

Tus species came under my observation for the first time on the 24th of July 1838, in Lat. 30° 38’ S. and
Long. 20° 43' W. ; from which period until we reached New South Wales scarcely a day passed without
the ship being visited by it; upon some occasions it appeared in considerable numbers, many of which were
apparently birds of one year old, or at most two years of age, which may be easily distinguished from the

adults, especially while flying, by the darker colouring of their wings, back and tail, and by the culmen of

the bill being less distinctly marked with yellow.
[have seen this species fairly dive after its prey; not merely immerse itself for an instant, but having

perceived an object near the surface, plunge down after it, and, after swimming under water for two or three

yards, bring it up.
The Yellow-billed Albatros is plentiful off the Cape of Good Hope, and in all the intermediate seas

between that point and Van Diemen’s Land; I also observed it off Capes Howe and Northumberland on the

southern coast of Australia, and Mr. Gilbert states that he saw it flying about Rottnest Island on the

western coast.

In its flight and general economy it greatly r
pany.

Spot before and line above the eye washed with grey;
tail-coverts and under surface of the wing snow-white 3
slate-colour, with white shafts; culmen from near the base to the point bright orange-yellow ; remainder
of the bill black ; irides greyish brown ; feet bluish white.
dult male and female about two-thirds of the natural size.

esembles the D. melanophrys, with which it is often in com-

head, neck, all the under surface, rump, upper

back and wings brownish black ; tail brownish

The Plate represents an a

 

 

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