iS88.] Goss on Birds of San Pedro Alartir Isle. 2A.7 



feathered parts also differentlj colored. Iris dark brown with a narrow 

 ring of grayish white around the outer edge ; chxws glaucous blue. 



Adult female. — Bill pale bluish horn fading after death, and towards 

 the base, to a dull dirty buff; lores slate-blue, bare space around eyes, and 

 gular sac, pale yellowish green ; legs, feet, and webs lighter in color and 

 with more of a j'ellow look; head, neck, breast, and upper parts of body 

 rich drab brown or sepia, deepening on primaries and recti'ices into seal 

 brown, the shafts of the feathers black; underparts, posterior to breast, 

 pure white. 



Adult male. — Bill oli\'e blue, lores and bare space around eyes indigo 

 blue, gular sac dull slate-blue with a greenisli tint; legs, feet and webs 

 light pea-green ; the body similar to the female but a little paler, and the 

 breast fading forward into sooty drab; anterior parts of head and throat 

 white, the rest of head and neck drab gray, deepening back, and on the 

 under sides shading into the color of the breast. 



The above measurements are from specimens saved ; the first two are 

 in the Goss Ornithological Collection, the last two in the National 

 Museum. I, however, measured others ; the females in all cases were the 

 largest. 



The birds were not wild, but their nesting places as a whole 

 were not in as exposed situations as those of the Blue-footed ; 

 tliey seemed to prefer the shelves and niches on the sides of the 

 rocks. They lay two eggs, and in all cases collect a few sticks, 

 seaweed, and often old wing or tail-feathers ; these are generally 

 placed in a circle to fit the body, with a view, I think, to keep 

 the eggs that lie upon the rock from rolling out. There is but little 

 material on or about the isle out of which a nest can be made. 



The birds must commence laying as early as the loth of Feb- 

 ruary, for I found in many cases young birds from half to two- 

 thirds grown — white, downy little fellows with deep bluish black 

 skins — that, in places where they can, wander about regardless of 

 the nests where they were hatched. Average measurement of 17 

 sets of their eggs, 2.44 X 1.60. In color and form, as well as in 

 size, they are similar to the eggs of the Blue-footed, in fact so near 

 alike that when placed together they cannot be separated with 

 any feeling of certainty ; therefore in collecting I was careful to 

 mark each set before they left my hands. 



