SULID^ — THE GANNETS — SULA. 171 



A* Malar region, with sides of chin and throat, feathered ; a narrow strip of naked skin down the 

 middle line of the throat. (^Dysporus.) 



1. S. bassana. Legs and feet blackish (in the dried skin). Adult : White, the remiges brown- 



ish dusky, the head and neck above washed with buff. Young : Dusky, streaked or speckled 

 with white. Wing, 19.50 inches ; tail, 10.00 ; culnien, 4.00 ; tarsus, 2.35. Hob. Atlantic 

 coast of North America, south, in winter, to the Gulf of Mexico ; Europe. 

 B. Malar region, with whole chin and upper part of throat naked. (Suln.) 



2. S. cyanops. Legs and feet reddish. Adult : White, the greater wing-coverts, alula), pri- 



mary coverts, and remiges dark sooty brown ; tail sooty brown, the middle feathers and 

 bases of the others whitish. Young : Head, neck, and upper parts dusky ; lower parts 

 white, the flanks streaked with gi-uyish ; middle of the back and upper part of the rump 

 streaked with white. Wing, 16.53 inches ; tail, 8.42 ; culmen, 3.96 ; depth of bill through 

 base, 1.44 ; tarsus, 2.02 ; middle toe, 2.88 (average dimensions). Hah. Coasts and islands 

 of tlie South Pacific and various intertropical seas ; Bahamas and Florida. 



3. S. leucogastra. Feet greenish or yellowish. Adult : Head, neck, breast, and upper parts 



dark sooty brown ; the head and neck hoary grayish in older specimens, sometimes nearly 

 white anteriorly ; lower parts jjosterior to the breast white. Young : Nearly uniform sooty 

 brown, lighter beneath. Wing, 15.72 inches ; tail. 8.23 ; culmen, 3.74 ; depth of bill 

 through base, 1.24; tarsus, 1.71 ; middle toe, 2.59 (average measurements). Hub. Coasts 

 of tropical and subtropical America, north to Georgia. 



4. S. piscator. Legs and feet always reddish. Adult: White, the head and neck tinged with 



buft", the shafts of the tail-feathers straw- or cream-colored, and the remiges hoary slate. 

 Young : Above, sooty brown, the remiges and rectrices more hoary ; head, neck, and lower 

 parts light smoky gray. (Colors extremely variable, scarcely two specimens being exactly 

 alike.) Wing, 15.04 inches ; tail, 8.93 ; culmen, 3.26 ; depth of bill through base, 1.07 ; 

 tarsus, 1.34 ; middle toe, 2.25 (average measurements). Hab. Intertropical seas and coasts 

 north to Florida. 



Sula bassana. 



THE COMMON GANNET. 



Pelecaims bassanus, Linn. S. N. I. 1758, 133 ; ed. 12, I. 1766, 217. 



Sulci bassana, Brlss. Oru. VI. 1760, 503. — Bonap. Synop. 1828, no. 359 ; Consp. II. 1857, 165.— 



NUTT. Man. II. 1834, 495. — Auu. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 222 ; Synop. 1839, 311 ; B. Am. VII. 



1844, 44, ])!. 425. — Lawr. in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 871. — Baird, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 



617. — CouEs, Key, 1872, 298 ; Check List, 1873, no. 524 ; 2d ed. 1882, no. 746. — Ridgw. Nom. 



N. Am. B. 1881, no. 650. 

 Sula americana, Bonap. Comp. List, 1838, 60. 

 Pelecanus maculatus, Gmel. S. N. I. 1788, 579 (young). 

 Sula alba, Meyer, Taschenb. II. 1810, 582 (adult). 

 Sula major, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl. 1831, 812. 



Hab. Coasts of the North Atlantic ; in America, south, in winter, to the Gulf of Mexico. 



Sp. Char. Adult : Prevailing color white, the head and neck, except underneath, more or less 

 deeply buff ; remiges brownish dusky. " Bill pule bluish gray, tinged with green toward the base ; 

 the lines on the upper mandible blackish blue ; the bare space about the eye and that on the throat 

 blackish blue ; iris white ; tarsi, toes, and webs brownish black, the bands of narrov/ scutellaj on 

 the tarsus and toes light greenish blue ; claws grayish white " (Audubon).^ Young, first plumage : 

 Head, neck, and upper parts dark grayish brown, relieved by small wedge-shaped white spots on 

 the tips of the feathers, except the remiges and tail-feathers, these markings partaking more of the 

 character of streaks on the head and neck ; lower parts whitish, the feathers edged with grayish 



1 The following are the fresh colors of a fine adult killed in Chesapeake Bay, and sent in the flesh to 

 the National Museum : Bill pale glaucous gray, with sulcus, edges of mandibles, lores, etc., dull blue- 

 black ; iris pale yellow ; eyelids dull light blue ; feet dull slate, with a sharply-defined narrow stripe of 

 apple-green along top of each toe, and following the course of each tendon along the front of the tarsus. 



