A LONG-LIVED BIRD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 767, 12 November 1886, Page 9

A LONG-LIVED BIRD.

The following was lately communicated to one of the San Francisco News Letter staff by Captain Heard, of Jhe British ship Duchess of Argyle :—“ vvhen rounding the Horn in January last in latitude 42deg lOmin S. and 50deg Bmin W., an immense albatross was noticed following the ship and feeding upon the refuse thrown overboard. One day as it hovered directly over the poop, I noticed a circular object hanging to the bird’s neck about the size of a silver dollar. I immediately gave orders to have the bird caught, if possible. My first mate, Mr Baird, who is very handy in such matters, procured a small flat piece of board, on which he fastened a large hook baited with a piece of pork ; to this he attached a stout fishing line, and let it drift astern. He caught several other albatrosses with this contrivance, but the one I particularly wanted to capture fought very shy of this tempting lure. On the third day, however, he was hooked firmly by the beak, and, after a desperate struggle, hoisted on board. I then discovered that the object I had seen hanging from the bird’s neck was a brass pocket-compass case, fastened to the bird by means of three strands of thick copper wire. Two of the wires had worn through, and the third was all but gone. After some trouble, as there was a quarter of an inch of verdigris, I succeeded in forcing open the lid, and inside found a carefully wrappedup piece of paper, on which .was written in much-faded ink the following:— “Caught May Ist, 1842, in latitude 38deg 6sec S., 40deg 14sec W., by Ambrose Cochran, of American ship Columbus. I then procured a plated label off a winedecanter, with my ship’s name on it, and got the carpenter to fasten it around the bird’s neck whh my name, the date of capture, the latitude, and also the facts of the previous capture by the captain of the Columbus, deeply cut into the metal. I then let the albatross go. Before doing so we measured the wings, and found them to be 12ft 2in from tip to tip. The bird was greyish white in color, with a reddish-brown head.” To judge from the above, the albatross must be a very long-lived bird, as it was probably at least four or five years old when caught by Captain Cochran, which would make it fifty-one years old when last caught. It may be added that the Duchess of Argyle, Captain Heard, was in Lytteiton some three years ago, and he (Captain Heard) is well known as a man of veracity.