544 PALMIPEDES. 



which liacl escaped from its dreaded foe ; but now 

 having caught a fish too Largo to be at once swallowed, 

 he rises with it into the air, as if bound for the skies. 

 Three or four of his own tribe have watched him, 

 and observed his success. They shoot towards him 

 on broadly extended pinions, mount upwards in wide 

 circles, smoothly, yet as swiftly as himself. They 

 are now all at the same height, and each, as it over- 

 takes him, lashes him with its wings, and tugs at 

 the prey. See ! one has robbed him ; but before he 

 can secure the contested fish, it drops. One of the 

 other birds has caught it ; but he is pursued by all. 

 From bill to bill, and through the air rapidly falls 

 the fish, until it drops quite dead on the water, and 

 sinks into the deep.'^ — {Audubon.) 



The type of the race is — 



The Ked-tailed Tropic Bird (Phaeton rubricauda). 



Linnreiis has bestowed upon these birds the generic name 

 of Fhaeton, or Birds of the Sun, probably both from their 

 soarmg to great elevations under a tropical sun, and from 

 the cu'cumstance that they seldom or never quit the 

 warm regions of the tropics, where, distinguished by 

 their peculiar jerking flight, they are seen, dimng calm 

 weather, hovering in mid-air, watching for j^rey ; or, 

 when stronger breezes prevail, skimming gently over 

 the surface of the ocean. They are amongst the most 

 beautiful of all the oceanic birds, and excite the admha- 

 tion of the marmer as the rays of a bright sun shine upon 

 their chaste and satiny plumage. They are as gentle in 

 manner as graceful in flight, and it is pleasing to watch 

 their easy evolutions. When soaring to a great height, 

 the action of their wings is slow, accompanied by a jerking 

 motion as they rise and fall by starts, and at the same 

 time utter their peculiar shrill notes. 



" The Tropic Bird is the very reverse of the heavy, 

 gigantic Albatross, and might well be called the fairy of 

 the ocean ; seen as it is in the genial latitudes of the 

 warmest climates of the globe, — now a stationary speck, 

 elevated as far as the eye can reach, contrasted with the 

 dark blue of the sky, like a spangle in the heavens ; then 

 suddenly descending, like a Mling star, and as suddenly 



