Sula fusca, Bonap. Syn. 408.
Booby, Sula fusca, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 500.
Booby Gannet, Sula fusca, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 63.
GENUS VI. PHAETON, Linn. TROPIC BIRD.
Bill as long as the head, stout, very much compressed, slightly curved, tapering, acute, opening to beneath the eye; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, the ridge narrow, rounded, the sides sloping and slightly convex at the base, nearly erect towards the end, the edges sharp, direct, irregularly broken, the tip acuminate; nasal groove short, near the ridge, lower mandible with the angle long, and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight and ascending, the sides erect and slightly convex, the tip acuminate. Nostrils basal, linear, very small. Head rather large, ovate; neck short and thick; body rather full. Feet very short; tibia bare for a considerable space; tarsus extremely short, roundish, covered with small round scales; toes rather small, placed in the same plane, and connected by reticulated webs; first very small, third a little longer than fourth, all scutellate above. Claws small, arched, compressed, rather sharp, that of the third toe with a thin entire inner edge. Plumage soft, blended, on the back rather compact. Wings long, acute, the first quill longest. Tail of twelve feathers, tapering, the two middle feathers extremely elongated, narrow, and tapering. This genus appears to be intermediate between Sula and Sterna.
427. 1. Phaeton æthereus, Linn. Common Tropic Bird.
Plate CCLXII. Male and Female.
Bill, tarsi, and hind toes yellow, the rest of the foot black; general colour of plumage pale pink, or white tinged with carmine, the two middle tail-feathers redder; a curved spot before the eye, and a short band behind it, black; a band of the same colour across the wing from the flexure, running narrow along the middle coverts, much enlarged on the inner secondaries and their coverts, and including the extremities of the scapulars; outer webs, shafts, and a portion of the inner webs of the first four primary quills, also black; and a spot of the same on some of the primary coverts; shafts of two middle tail-feathers black, unless toward the end; some of the elongated feathers on the hind part of the sides greyish-black in the centre. Female less tinged with red, and having the tail-feathers less elongated.
Male, 291/2, 38. Female, 26, 34.
Rare on the coast of Florida. Migratory.
Phaeton æthereus, Bonap. Syn. p. 409.
Tropic Bird, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 503.
Tropic Bird, Phaeton æthereus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 442.