990 TROPIC-BIRD 
without either Tropick,” and hence, indulging a pretty fancy, 
Linneus bestowed upon it the generic term, continued by modern 
writers, of Phaethon, in allusion to its attempt to follow the path 
of the sun.t There are certainly three well-marked species of this 
genus, but their respective geographical ranges have not yet been 
definitely laid down. All of them can be easily known by their 
totipalmate condition, in which the four toes of each foot are 
united by a web, and by the great length of the two middle tail- 
quills, which project beyond the rest, so as to have gained for the 
birds the names of ‘‘Rabijunco,” ‘ Paille-en-queue” and “Pijlstaart” 
among mariners of different nations. These birds fly to a great 
distance from land and seem to be attracted by ships, frequently 
hovering round or even settling on a mast-head. 
The Yellow-billed Tropic-bird, P. flavirostris or candidus, appears 
to have habitually the most northerly, as well, perhaps, as the 
widest range, visiting Bermuda yearly to breed there, but also 
occurring numerously in the southern Atlantic, the Indian and a 
great part of the Pacific Ocean. In some islands of all these three 
it breeds, sometimes on trees, which the other species are not 
known to do. However, like the rest of its congeners, its lays but 
a single egg, and this is of a pinkish-white, mottled, spotted and 
smeared with brownish-purple, often so closely as to conceal the 
ground-colour. This is the smallest of the group, and hardly 
exceeds in size a large Pigeon; but the spread of its wings and its 
long tail make it appear more bulky than it really is. Except 
some black markings on the face (common to all the species 
known), a large black patch partly covering the scapulars and 
wing-coverts, and the black shafts of its elongated rectrices, its 
general colour is white, glossy as satin, and often tinged with 
roseate. Its yellow bill readily distinguishes it from its larger 
congener P. aethereus, but that has nearly all the upper surface of 
the body and wings closely barred with black, while the shafts of 
its elongated rectrices are white. This species has a range almost 
equally wide as the last; but it does not seem to occur in the 
western part of the Indian Ocean. The third and largest species, 
1 Occasionally, perhaps through violent storms, Tropic-birds wander very 
far from their proper haunts. In 1700 Leigh, in his Lancashire (i. pp. 164, 
195, Birds, tab. i. fig. 3), described and figured (after Willughby) a ‘‘ Tropick 
Bird” found dead in that county. Another is said by Mr. Lees (Zool. ser. 2, p. 
2666) to have been found dead at Cradley near Malvern—apparently before 1856 
(J. H. Gurney, jun. op. cit. p. 4766)—which, like the last, would seem (W. H. 
Heaton, op. cit. p. 5086) to have been of the species known as P. aethereus. 
Naumann was told (Rhea, i. p. 25) of its supposed occurrence at Heligoland, 
and Col. Legge (B. Ceylon, p. 1174) mentions one taken in India 170 miles from 
the sea. The case cited by MM. Degland and Gerbe (Ornith. Europ. ii. p. 363) 
seems to be that of an Albatros. 
