Duane Mills, age l1 of Radcliff, Kentucky, for his question:

What is the Laysan albatross?

All the albatrosses are champion fliers and spend most of their time at sea. For generations, the Laysan albatross has spent the nesting season on lonely Pacific islands. In the 1940s, some of these birds experienced a remarkable happening. Strange men arrived on their island, bringing all sorts of stupendous equipment. And of all things, those strangers in their flying machines surpassed the champion albatrosses.

Of the 13 albatross species, nine are natives of the Southern Hemisphere. One species nests on the Galapagos Islands that straddle the equator. Three others nest in the northern Pacific. One of these is the Laysan albatross, who was thought to limit his nesting area to the island of Laysan, which is northwest of Hawaii. He is a white bird with a dusky dark back to match the dark color of his very skinny, very wide wings. There are dusky patches around his bright eyes and his sturdy bill is an early morning shade of pink.

We know now that the Laysan albatross ranges over a vast area to the west and north of the Hawaiian, Islands. He nests in groups on several ocean isles besides Laysan. This was learned in World Jar II when United States soldiers and sailors established a base on the island of Midway. ,They soon learned that the place already was occupied by several large squadrons of Laysan albatrosses.

This was their busy nesting season. However, the big beauteous birds were not at all upset by the human strangers. Far from it. They were fascinated with friendly interest and curiosity. Many of the big birds nested on the runways and more of them crowded close to the barracks and other buildings.

This of course was very flattering to the visitors. But it also was a great nuisance. Those champion fliers of the bird world were a menace to the military aircraft. But nobody, nobody had the heart to kill them or even to oust them from their ancestral nesting grounds. The problem was partially solved when special teams were detailed to carry the albatross eggs from the runways. It was hoped that this would encourage the parent birds to relocate in safer areas.

The Laysan albatross was a lot luckier than the short tailed albatross, who once nested in large numbers on islands near Japan. A few decades ago, these colonies were brutally plundered for feathers and fertilizer. In 1958, when the species was almost extinct, Japan passed laws to protect the last 14 pairs. Let's hope that this will succeed.

Though an excellent parent, the albatross does not build a lavish home. The nest is a bare patch on the ground. The mother and the father birds take turns at sitting on their one chalky white egg    and the patient incubation period may be as long as 80 days.