972 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOPODES. 



on islands, in rocky places or among low trees and bushes. As implied in their name, they 

 are birds of the torrid zone, though in their extensive wanderings they visit Southern seas, and 

 have even been reported from beyond latitude 49° N. There were only 3 well-determined 

 species (P. flavirostris, P. cBthereus, and P. ruhricauda) for many years, but the latest mo- 

 nographer of the family recognizes 6 ; 3 of these are now known to occur in the U. S., and I 

 can consequently add one to the two formerly given in the Key. The additional species is 

 P. ruhricauda; besides which, the one formerly given as P. flavirostris is now named 

 P. amerieanus. The extraliuntal species are P. lexiturus, P. fulvus, and P. indicus. 

 PHAETHON. (Gr. 'Paedoiv, PhaetJion, son of Helios, the Sun; from cpaedeiv, phaethein, to 

 shine, beam.) Tropic Birds. Boatswain Birds. Straw-tails. Character as above. 



Analysis of Species {Adults). 



Tail of 12 feathers, middle pair not red. Bill yellow amerieanus 



Tail of 14 feathers, middle pair not red. Bill coral-red mt/ierevs 



Tail of IG feathers, middle pair red with black shafts. Bill orange-red ruhricauda 



P. aethe'reus. (Lat. cethereus, from Gr. uWepaios, aitheraios, pertaining to the upper air or 

 ffither; etherial.) Red-billed Tropic Bird. Catesby's Tropic Bird. Tail of 14 

 feathers. Adult ^ ?: Bill coral-red. Iris black. Tarsi and tops of toes yellow; feet other- 

 wise black, including claws. Plumage pure white, finely barred with black on nearly all the 

 upper parts ; black markings on flanks ; a black transocular fascia, ending in a crescent on 

 side of nape ; several outer primaries with their outer webs and part of inner webs next the 

 shaft, black ; other primaries with a long black stripe ; several inner secondaries mostly black ; 

 most of the tail-feathers with black shafts, and some outer ones with black marks ; the long 

 middle pair, however, with the shafts white in most of their extent. Length 30.00-36.00, in- 

 cluding the long " pailles en queue ;" without these, about 18.00 ; wing 12.00 (more or less) ; 

 long middle tail-feathers up to 18.00 or more ; tarsus 1.00; middle toe and claw 1.75 ; culmen 

 2.50 ; bill nearly 1.00 deep at base. Young birds do not differ much from adults ; middle tail- 

 feathers ungrown ; more black in the white plumage, especially on tail and flanks ; bill passing 

 from yellow through orange to red. Tropical and subtropical America on both coasts ; known 

 to breed on San Pedro Martir Island in Gulf of California; accidental N. to Newfoundland 

 Banks, Aug. 1876 (Freke, Pr. Roy. Soc. Dublin, 1879); said to have been seen iu Norway. 

 Egg 2.25 X 1.60, heavily colored with dark reddish -brown. 



P. america'nus. (Lat. American.) Yellow-billed Tropic Bird. Grant's Tropic 

 Bird. Tail of 12 feathers. Adult J 9 • Bill yellow ; tarsi yellow ; most of toes black ; claws 

 black. Plumage pure white, in higli feather tinted with rosy on under parts and long tail- 

 feathers ; not finely barred with black, but with definite black areas : a black transocular 

 fascia as in cethereus ; an oblique black band on wing from lesser coverts to inner secondaries 

 and scapulars ; 1st primary with the black reaching within 0.50 of end ; 2d-4th with black 

 nearly reaching tips; 5th with black outer web to within about 1.00 of the end. Flank 

 feathers with blackish shaft-stripes toward their ends; most of the shafts of tail-feathers, in- 

 cluding middle pair, black. Young : Similar, but extensively marked with black bars or 

 crescents on most of the upper parts, and spots on tail. Smaller than the last ; bill notably 

 smaller, hardly 2.00 along culmen and 0.75 deep at base; wing 11.00; development of middle 

 tail-feathers about the same as iu cethereus, 16.00-21.00. Egg 2.20 X 1.55, indistinguish- 

 able from those of the foregoing. Tropical and subtropical America on the Atlantic side, rare 

 or casual in the U. S., as on the Gulf coast; Florida; Cuba ; the Bermudas ; has strayed to 

 western New York in one instance (Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, p. 63). This is the 

 original Tropick Bird of Catesby, 1743, pi. 14 ; and the species figured by Audubon, folio 

 pi. 262, 8vo pi. 427, from the Tortugas, under wrong name of P. cethereus, which belongs to 

 the foregoing. It is also P. flavirostris of all former editions of the Key, and of A. 0. U. Lists, 



