194 BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 



SULA DACTYLATRA. {Lesson.) 



I append Dr. Bryant's description and account of this species, 

 as I liave never met with it. 



Description. — "Sexes similar; form more robust than that of 

 the S. fiber ; secondaries and tertiaries, rich brown, the primaries 

 of the same color, but darker; some of the coverts of the primaries 

 brownish ; tail, with the feathers below, brown, above, hoary, the 

 two middle feathers the most so, and the base of all white or whitish; 

 all the rest of the plumage snowy white; bill, horn-color, with the 

 serrations of the upper mandible very distinctly marked ; iris, pale 

 yellow; naked skin around the bill; eyes and throat, black ; tarsi 

 and feet, yellowish green. 



" Lesson's description of this bird is not sufficiently full to enable 

 me to decide with certainty whether it is the same as those I pro- 

 ciu'ed at the Bahamas. If it should prove to be a new species, 

 the name elegans would be appropriate, as it is the prettiest of the 

 genus. In dimensions, it is about the size of the Sula fiusea, but 

 heavier and more muscular. I found them breeding but at one 

 l^lace, St. Domingo Key, and there some twenty pairs. They appar- 

 ently lay their eggs later than the Booby, as the largest of the young- 

 were not more than half grown, and the eggs of several were freshly 

 laid. They were whiter than those of the latter bird, the chalky 

 covering being much thicker, and did not differ as much in size or 



