532 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



Tribe TOTIPALMI.i 



Family SULID^. The Gannets. 



Bill rather long, straight, sides compressed, very strong, tapering to the point, 

 which is a little decurved; nostrils hardly obser%'able; wings very long; tail long 

 and cuneate; toes long, and all joined by full webs; gular sac moderate. 



SULA, Beisson. 



Sula, Beisson, Omith. (1760). (Type Pelecanus bassanus.) 



Bill rather longer than the head, straight, stout at the base, with the sides com- 

 pressed, grooved near the tip, which is a little curv'ed, the cutting edges serrated 

 irregularly; nostrils basal and scarcely perceptible; wings lengthened; tail rather 

 long and much graduated; tarsi short and stout; toes long, and joined together by 

 full webs; claws moderate, the middle one serrated; gular sac rather moderate. 



These birds usually frequent almost inaccessible rocky islands, where they con- 

 gregate in great numbers during the season of reproduction, at other times migrat- 

 ing along the coast. Their flight is rapid, powerful, and long-continued. 



SULA BASSANA. — Brisson. 

 The Common Gannet; Solan Goose. 



Pelecanus bassanus, Linnjeus. Sj^st. Nat. (1766), 217. 



Stila bassann, Nuttall. Man., II. (1834) 495. Aud. Om. Biog., IV. (18-38) 222. 

 Tb., Birds Am., VIL (1844) 44. 



Desceiption. 



General color of the plumage white; bill bluish-gray; bare space around the eye 

 and on the throat blackish-blue ; primaries brownish-black, tirst longest. 



Adult. — The color of the plumage generally is white, the head and hind neck 

 being of a tine buff-yellow; alula and primaries brownish-black; shafts white for 

 about two-thirds their length from the base, thence gradual!}' becoming dark -brown ; 

 bill pale bluish-graj', greenish at the base, the lines on the upper mandible blackish- 

 blue; bare space in the region of the ej'e, and down the centre of the throat 

 blackish-blue; iris white; tarsi, toes, and their webs, blackish-brown; the lines of 

 scutellse on the tarsi and toes green; claws bluish-white. The female resembles the 

 male, but is rather smaller. The young have the head, neck, and upper plumage 

 dark -brown, each feather terminating with a triangular white spot; under plumage 

 grayish-white, the feathers broadly margined with grayish-brown. 



1 See Introduction. 



