178 TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS — STEGANOPODE3. 



fought and scuffled with the offensive weapon, but returned the moment it was with- 

 drawn. A few had the sense to bite at the hands in place of the gun-barrel. They 

 hissed like the Domestic Goose, and had a very hoarse, croaking voice. 



The egg is said to measure 2.60 by 1.S0 inches, some being equally rounded at both 

 ends, while others are a little pointed at one end. The color is a bluish green inside, 

 but covered outside with a dry rough white coating, showing the color of the interior 

 through it. The young were at first covered with a fine white down, but the feathers 

 afterward came out of an ash-color. The seasons of incubation did not appear to be 

 regular. At Enderby's Island these birds were hatching in January, and at other 

 places in intermediate seasons. This species is also referred to by Dr. Pickering as 

 being abundant at Gardner's Island, and in other places. 



Eggs of this bird, obtained in the Bahamas by Dr. Bryant, are now in the Smith- 

 sonian Collection (No. 1712). They are of a uniform dull white color, and measure 

 2.45 by 1.70 inches ; one egg (No. 2438) measures 2.55 by 1.75. 



Sula leucogastra. 

 THE BOOBY GANNET. 



Petit Fou, Buff. PI. Enl. 973. 



Pelecanus leucogaster, Bodd. Tabl. P. E. 1783, 57 (ex PI. Enl. 973). 



Di/sporus leucogaster, Sundf.v. P. Z. S. 1871, 125. 



Sula leucogastra, Salv. Trans. Zool. Soc. IX. ix. 1875, 496 (Galapagos ; critical). — Stkeets, Bull. 



U.S. Nat. Mus. no. 7, 1877, 22 (Gulf of California). — Eidgw. Noni. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 



652. — Coues, 2d Check List, 1882, no. 747. 

 Suhi fasca, Aud. B. Am. VII. 1844, 57, pi. 426 (not Pelecanus fuscus, LlNJT.). 

 Sula fiber, Lawk, in Baivd's B. N. Am. 1858, 872 (not Pelecanus fiber, of Linn. 1766). — Baikd, 



Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 618. — Coues, Key, 1872, 298 ; Check List, 1873, no. 525. — Scl. & 



Salv. Nom. Neotr. 1873, 124. 



Hab. Coasts of tropical and subtropical America, north to Georgia. 



Sp. Char. Feet greenish or yellowish. Adult male, full breeding-plumage ? (No. 58805, Isa- 

 bella Island, Western Mexico, April, 27, 1869 ; Colonel A. J. Grayson) : Head, throat, and nape, 

 grayish white, the feathers edged with grayish brown, especially toward bases : foreneck, jugulum, 

 and entire lower parts, pure white, this color extending in a broad collar round lower part of the 

 nape, the foreneck and jugulum strongly tinged witli delicate peach-blossom pink. Upper parts in 

 general grayish brown, the remiges darker, the larger scapulars tipped with grayish white ; upper 

 tail-coverts and middle tail-feathers white, the latter passing into light brownish gray terminally, 

 along the edges ; outer rectrices grayish brown, paler basally, the shaft wdiite, except near the end ; 

 other rectrices intermediate in color between the middle and outer. Wing, it, 30 inches ; tail, 

 6.50 ; oilmen 3.95 ; depth of bill through base, 1.30 ; tarsus, 1.85 ; middle toe, 2.65. 1 Bill (in 

 dried skin) pale purplish gray, nearly white in middle portion; feet dusky greenish. Ail nit, n.<nal 

 •plumage: Head, neck, and breast, dark sooty brown ; upper parts in general similar, but lighter, 

 the remiges and rectrices more dusky, especially the former. Lower parts, posterior to the breast, 

 uniform white. Bill greenish gray or dirty yellowish, in skin (said to be "bright yellow, pale 

 flesh-colored toward the end," in life), the naked lores and gular sac darker ; iris white (Audu- 

 bon) ; feet greenish in dried skin, said to be pale yellow, in life. Young : Plumage nearly uniform 

 grayish brown, or sooty gray, lighter beneath. " Bill and claws dusky ; tarsi and toes with their 

 membranes dusky " (Audubon). 



The changes of plumage in this species are, as is the case with S. piscator and S. cyanops, very 

 perplexing. The greenish or yellowish feet afford the most obvious specific character, the feet being 

 reddish in both the species named above. The size is about intermediate between the two. The 



1 The average dimensions of fifteen specimens are as follows, the measurements being in the same 

 sequence as given above : 15.72 inches, 8.28, 3.71. 1.24, 1.71. 2.59. 



