76 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Genus SULITA. 
Sulita Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 7, p. 123, Jan. 28th, 1915. Type (by 
original designation): Pelecanus bassanus Linné. 
Morus Vieillot, Analyse nouv. Ornith., p. 63, April 14th, 1816. Type (by monotypy) : 
“Fou de Bassan”’ = P. bassanus Linné. 
Not Morum Bolten, Mus. Bolten, p. 53, 1798. 
Moris Forster, Synopt. Cat. Brit. Birds, p. 59, Dec. 1817. Type (by monotypy): P. bassanus 
Linné. Mis-spelling only. 
Plancus Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. vi., 1852 (? 1853). Type(by original designation): 
Plancus major = Pelecanus bassanus Linné. 
Not Curtis, Entom. Mag., Ser. I., Vol. II., p. 188, Jan. 1833. 
Largest Suline birds with long Suline bill, medium thick neck, long wings, 
‘stout body, long tail, short legs and long toes, totipalmate. 
The bill is long, longer than the head, straight not hooked, but slightly bent 
at the tip which is sharp ; bill rather broad at the base, but laterally compressed 
anteriorly, the culmen ridge flattened and separated from the laterals by a deep 
linear groove extending the whole length of the bill and showing no nostrils in the 
adult stage. The edges of the mandibles are finely serrated ; the rami of the lower 
mandible strong and deep, enclosing a very narrow triangular unfeathered tract, 
which extends linearly a short way down the throat. In front of the eyes and below, 
bordering the gape, bare skin is present, but the cheeks and chin, save for the narrow 
strip above mentioned, are feathered. The neck is of medium length and thick. 
‘The wing is long, with pointed feathers scalloped towards their tips, the first primary 
longest, the remainder rather rapidly shortening. The tail is long, about half the 
length of the wing and more than twice the length of the culmen ; it is composed 
of twelve feathers, being wedge shaped, the two middle feathers very pointed. 
The legs are short, but comparatively long and slender ; the metatarsus is more 
than half the length of the culmen. The metatarsal covering is very peculiar, as 
figured. It should be noted that the hind-toe is very short in comparison with the 
hind-toe of Sula and the covering is exactly the opposite. Thus, whereas the three 
front toes are very regularly covered with scutes, the hind-toe shows a reticulate face. 
In the genus Sula the three front toes are reticulately covered, whereas the hind-toe 
‘shows fairly regular scutes. The nestling with egg-tooth still present on the culmen 
has the leg-covering as seen in the adult. 
56. Sulita serrator.—GANNET. 
Gould, Vol. VII., pl. 76 (pt. xxty.), Sept. Ist, 1846. Mathews, Vol. IV., pt. 3, pl. 226, June 
23rd, 1915. : 
Sula serrator Gray, Dieffenbach’s Travels New Zeal., Vol. II., App., p. 20, (middle Jan.) 
1843, as synonym of S. australis Gould: Tasmanian Seas. 
Sula australis Gould, Proc. Zool. Soc. (Lond.), 1840, p. 177, July 1841: Tasmanian Seas. 
Not of Stephens, in Shaw’s Gen. Zool., Vol. XIII., pt. 1, p. 104, Feb. 18th, 1826. 
Sula serrator dyoitt Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. IIL., pts. 2 and 3, p. 63, Oct. 23rd, 
1913: Tasmania. 
DiIsTRIBUTION.—Extra-tropical Australia. 
Adult male —General colour above and below pure white ; crown of head, sides 
of face, and upper hind-neck golden-buff ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts and quills 
dark greyish-brown, paler and more hoary-grey on the inner webs of the quills: the 
latter have white shafts towards the base; the four middle tail-feathers greyish- 
brown with white shafts, remainder of tail white. Bill slate, bare skin on the face 
slate-blue ; iris silver-grey, feet dull greenish-black with the toes light green. Total 
length 980 mm. ; culmen 89, wing 470, tail 240, tarsus 60. 
Adult female-—Similar to the adult male. 
Immature—General colour above greyish-brown, all the feathers tipped with 
