i58 PHAETHONTID^. 



Adult. General colour white ; a black band bordering the sides of 

 the head i)asses through the eye and terminates in a crescent-shaped 

 mark above the gape ; back and sides of the neck, back, rump, 

 upper tail-coverts, scapulars, and most of the lesser and median wing- 

 coverts barred with black ; the five outermost primaries with the 

 outer web and part of the inner web next the shaft black, only the 

 extreme tip being white ; some apparently fully adult specimens 

 have the third quill partially, and the fourth and fifth entirely 

 margined on the outer web with white ; the remaining primary- 

 (juills with a black median stripe extending to within about an inch 

 of the tip ; outer primary-coverts, innermost secondaries and their 

 covei'ts, mostly black, margined with white ; long flank-feathers 

 with blotched greyish-black bars ; outer tail-feathers with a few 

 irregular black markings near the shaft ; the upper surface of the 

 shafts black, white at the extremity. Tail composed of 14 feathers. 

 Iris black ; tarsi and upper part of toes yellow, rest of toes and 

 claws black ; biU bright coral- red. 



Adult m(de. Total length about 40 inches, culmen from feathers 

 on forehead 2-4-2-5, wing ll-5-ll*7, tail 26, tarsus 1-15-1-2. 



Adidt female. Total length about 40 inches, culmen from feathers 

 on forehead 2*6, wing IS, tail imperfect, tarsus I'lo. 



An immature bird differs slightly from the most adult in having 

 the second primary-quill partially, and the third, fourth, and fifth 

 wholly margined with white on the outer web ; the markings on 

 the innermost secondaries take the form of irregular blotched 

 black bars ; the bill iu the dried skin is orange-yellow, tinged with 

 red. 



Quite young birds with the quills half-grown have the plumage 

 very similar to that of the adult, the primaries and secondaries 

 being similarly marked ; but the tail-feathers, except the two outer 

 pairs, are blotched with black at the extremity, and the long flank- 

 feathers are mostly black, toothed with white on the margins. Bill 

 yellow. 



Rab. Tropical portions of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. 



a. Imm.sk. Acajutla, Sau Salvador, Central Sal vin-Godman Coll. 



America. 



b. Juv. sk. Nicova, Costa Rica, March Salvin-Godman Coll. 



(K Arce). 



c. d. (S fvd. sk. Auguilia, W. Indies ( W. li. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Elliott). 

 e. Ad.sk. Redonda Island, W.I. ('S'/J6'«ce). Salvin-Godmau Coll. 



f,g. Ad.sk. Guadeloupe, W. I. {F. A. Salvin-Godman ColL 



Oher). 

 h. Ad. sk. St. Lucia, W. I. (Semper). Salvin-Godman Coll, 



i. Ad. sk. Maraidiani, S. America {R. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Wendebor7i). 

 k, I Ad. sk. Fernando Noronha. II. N. Ridley, Esq. 



m. 2 ad.sk. Boatswain-bird I., Ascension. 'Challenger Exped. 



w-^. Ad.,imm. et Boatswaiji-bird I., Ascension. Howard Saunders, 

 pull. sk. Esq. [P.]. 



