Page:Cassell's book of birds (IA cassellsbookofbi04breh).pdf/233

 globe, being generally, however, more or less restricted within the limits of a certain zone, from which they never wander far during the whole course of the year, and within which they likewise breed.

THE WANDERING ALBATROSS.

The (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.

(Diomedea exulans).

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.