Sula dactylatra personata Gould
Masked Booby
Sula personata Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1846, p. 21. (Type locality, North and northeast coasts of Australia = Raine Island.)
Sula cyanops Finsch, Ibis, 1880, p. 219 (Taluit); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 72 (Marshalls); Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds British Mus., 26, 1898, p. 430 (Marshalls).
Parasula dactylatra personata Kuroda, in Momiyana, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 35 (Marshall Islands); Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 232 (Marshall Islands).
Sula dactylatra personata Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 407 (Medinilla); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 187 (Medinilla, Marshall Islands); Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 208 (Medinilla, Marshall Islands).
Geographic range.—Central and western Pacific from the Hawaiian Islands south to Australia, probably also in the Indian Ocean. In Micronesia: Mariana Islands—Medinilla; Marshall Islands—Jaluit?
Characters.—Adult: A large, white sea bird, with brown wings and tail; face dark blue; bill horn-colored with base orange-yellow in males and pink or light red in females; feet olive in males and lead gray in females.
Immature: Resembles adult, but head, wings, tail, chin and throat dark brown; some white mottling may be present on back and rump; bill dark; feet lead colored.
Nesting.—Yamashina (1932a:407) reports the taking of 12 eggs on February 19, 1931, at Medinilla Island in the Marianas.
Remarks.—No specimen has been examined by me from the area reported upon. Little is known regarding the distribution of the Masked Booby in Micronesia. It is found on the island groups which surround Micronesia and future field observations probably will add to our knowledge of its occurrence in this area. It is known to be resident only in the northern Marianas.