igoo] Halkett — Gannets and Cormorants. 147 



The Darters (T lotus) nnlike all other genera of the order are 

 not maritime in their habits. If we are to see them in their native 

 haunts they must be followed to almost impenetrable swamps in 

 the tropics. These birds have long slender necks, with numerous 

 cervical vertebrae, so that they sometimes receive the name of 

 Snake-birds. There are only a few species of Darters, one of 

 which Plotus anhinga belongs to North America, 



The Frigates (Tachy petes) like the Pelicans have the gular- 

 pouch of great size. There is one well defined species Tachypetes 

 \ aquUus. This bird has the feet very small, and the wings of great 

 size and strength, so that it is not only marine in its habits, but 

 pelagic. It is a poor swimmer, can hardly walk, and cannot dive 

 at all, but its power of flight is astonishing. 



Of Tropic birds ( Phacthon) there are three known species : 

 P. flavirostris, P. cethereus, and P. riibricaiida, the two first men- 

 tioned of which are North American. The following is an examin- 

 ation of a specimen of the Yellow-billed Tropic Bird {P. flavirostris). 

 It had a yellow bill and black toes : the bill b^ing very like that of 

 a tern and was not hooked. The rudimentary gulai -pouch was 

 covered with feathers, instead of being naked as is generally the 

 case with toti-palmate birds, and the nostrils were open, which is 

 an uncommon feature in other birds of the order. The middle 

 feathers of the tails were of great length. The general colour of 

 the plumage was white, nicely contrasted with black. 



Of Gannets there are now recognised six distinct species in- 

 digenous to North America. These are the White Gannet or Solan- 

 goose (Suiabassana), the Brown Gannet or Booby (S. teiicogastra 

 or S. sula), the Blue-faced Booby (S. cyanops), the Red-footed 

 Booby ( S. piscator), the Blue-footed Booby (S. gossi), and 

 Brewster's Booby (S. brewsteii). 



The first time I ever saw a Gannet was when a boy at a small 

 inland town about eight miles from the sea, on the east side of 

 Scotland. Some fifty miles from this town at the Bass Rock, in 

 the Frith of Forth, the White Gannets congregate in prodigious 

 numbers : indeed this species which is otherwise called the Solan 

 goose, receives its specific name bassana from the Bass Rock. 

 The bird T saw was in the hands of a fish-monger, or cadger as 



I that functionary is designated in some parts of Scotland, and it 



