388 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



albatross {Diomedea regia), that I regard as the most beautiful, 

 although it is not the largest of the albatrosses. 



Another bird I saw in the South Seas was Phaethon ruhncaudus, 

 the red-tailed Tropic bird, largest of the genus. He derives his 

 name from the bright crimson-red of his elongated and very at- 

 tenuated rectrices. His mandibles are also red, and, when full 

 grown, his white plumage is tinted a deep roseate hue — altogether 

 a beautiful bird. I wrote from South America of my experiences 

 with the yellow-billed Tropic bird [P. flavirostris) (called "long- 

 tails" in Bermuda), and I was on tiptoe to see his relative flying 

 about the southern ocean. Moreover, I hoped to see a young bird, 

 with the black, arrow-head markings on its back. I also wondered 

 whether those barbarians who shoot this lovely creature for the 

 bright red feathers of his tail (let us not forget those participites 

 criminis who wear them) are still at their nefarious work. 



Stevenson, one of the most careful observers, several times speaks 

 of the southern Tropic bird. In one instance he makes, however, a 

 mistake which is quite pardonable, and which has been made by 

 others, in supposing that there is but one, and not two, long feathers 

 in the bird's tail — an error due to the fact that in molting the 

 feathers are renewed irregularly and, in consequence, one feather 

 frequently projects much beyond its fellow and gives the appearance 

 of a single plume. The paragraph referred to is from "The Ebb 

 Tide," page 130 : " * * * around and about the schooner a Tropic 

 bird, white as a snowflake, hung and circled, and displayed, as it 

 turned, the long vermilion feather in its tail." 



While climbing the long but beautifully shaded trail that zigzags 

 the slopes of Mount Vaea on a pilgrimage to Stevenson's tomb we 

 saw, sailing up .and down the valley beneath us, a splendid red tail, 

 flying directly over Vailima. Perhaps he was a descendant of one 

 of the poet's birds. 



Mr. D. McDonald, chief officer of the steamship Tahiti, who for 

 years has studied the oceanic life of Phaethon rubricaudus, tells me 

 that these birds come on board practically always at night; and 

 when they do so it is not (or rarely) because of exhaustion or be- 

 cause they are blown aboard, but because they are attracted by one 

 or other of the ship's lights. They generally fly directly at the lan- 

 tern, and are often stunned by the impact. They then fall onto the 

 deck and, owing partly to the confusion produced by the blow, are 

 unable to fly off again. Mr. McDonald does not think that the in- 

 jury is alone responsible for their helplessness (that generally leads 

 to their capture) ; in addition, they seem unable to get a grip on the 

 smooth, often slippery, deck without which they can not acquire the 

 headway necessary for upward flight. Nor does he believe that, as 



