YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD 



bill 62 mm. (2.40 in.). Plumage white, finely 

 barred above with black, excepting the head, a 

 black streak through the eye terminating in a 

 crescent on the cheek; wing quills black, the 

 shafts of the tail feathers black. Bill red. 



This tropic bird is the only one found on the 

 Pacific side. It breeds at points along the west 

 coast from the Gulf of California southward and 

 at the Galapagos, so that its presence in the Bay 

 of Panama is doubtless frequent, though it 

 usually keeps well off shore. On the Atlantic 

 side its occurrence is also possible, as it breeds in 

 the Lesser Antilles and off the Venezuelan coast, 

 but it is much less numerous in the Caribbean 

 than the Yellow-billed Tropic Bird. 



2. Phaethon lepturus (Brandt) 

 Yellow-billed Tropic Bird 



Sexes alike. Length about 660 mm. (26.00 

 in.); tail (middle feathers) about 405 mm. (16.00 

 in); bill 47 mm. (1.80 in.). Similar to P. cether- 

 eus but not barred above with black, and with 

 more solid black areas on wings ; under parts and 

 tail feathers sometimes tinted with salmon or 

 rosy in fresh plumage. Bill ordinarily yellow; 

 orange to red in breeding season. 



Young. Similar to adults but finely barred 

 on the back with black, thus much like the adult 

 of next preceding species, but distinguishable by 

 smaller size and relatively smaller bill. 

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