190 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



come to a standstill for an instant, as thougli about to alight, but they would 

 continue their circle. This was repeated ten or twelve times before the bird 

 finally entered the hole. On Hood Island they usually went directly to their 

 holes without hesitation. 



Only twice in the archipelago were these birds seen on the water; once I 

 saw three off Daphne Ishmd, and on another occasion one off Mount Pitt, 

 Chatham Island. In the latter case the bird flew as we passed and shook 

 itself just after getting out of the water. As far as we observed, the tropic- 

 birds are practically immune from the attacks of man-o'-war birds. On one 

 occasion only did I see man-o'-war birds harrass a tropic-bird, and then without 

 success. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — On some of the Lesser Antilles (St. Vincent, 

 Grenada, Bequia, Carriacou, etc.), off the coast of Venezuela (Or- 

 qiiilla and Los Hermanos Islands), and off the coast of Brazil (Fer- 

 nando Noronha). And on the Pacific coast, from the Gulf of Cali- 

 fornia (San Pedro Martir Island) southward along the coast of 

 Mexico (Tres Marias Islands), on the Galapagos Islands and on the 

 coast of Peru (San Lorenzo). 



Winter range. — Tropical oceans, from the West Indies (Jamaica) 

 south to Brazil (Fernando Noronha and Abrolhos Islands) and As- 

 cension Island; also from Lower California (Espiritu Santo Island) 

 south to Chile (Taltal). 



Migrations. — Not ^vell marked and data very scanty. 



Casual records. — Accidental in Bermuda (April, 1901), on the 

 Newfoundland Banks (August, 1876), and in the Cape Verde Islands 

 (January 23, 1832). Wanders north on the Pacific coast to southern 

 California (San Pedro Channel, August, 1916). 



Egg dates. — Tres Marias Islands, Mexico : Eighteen records, March 

 6 to April 23 ; nine records, April 9. Galapagos Islands, four records, 

 March 6. 



SCAEOPHAETHON RUBRIC AUDUS (Boddaert). 



RED-TAILED TROPIC-BIRD. 



HABITS. 



This, the most beautiful of the tropic-birds, is the rarest of the 

 three in North American waters. It is an inhabitant of the tropical 

 regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, occurring, as a straggler 

 only, on the coast of Lower California. 



Gould (1865) says of it: 



This bird is very generally dispersed over the temperate and warmer lati- 

 tudes of the Indian Ocean and South Seas, where it often hovers round ships, 

 and occasionally alights on their rigging. During the months of August and 

 September it retires to various islands for the purpose of breeding; among 

 other places selected for the performance of this duty are Norfolk Island, off the 

 coast of Australia, and Raines Islets, in Torres Straights, from both of which 



