356 Cape Pigeons and Whale Birds 



a very brief introduction, I left for a while in order to 

 do ample justice to by-and-by, let us take a passing 

 glimpse at a truly wonderful sea-bird which is fre- 

 quently seen at great distances from land, but scarcely 

 ever in company with another bird even of its own 

 kind. I allude to the Tropic Bird {Phaeton etherius) 

 which all sailors used to know as the ' Bo'sun,' for 

 they said ' he carries his marlinespike for a tail.' 

 This is in allusion to the two long, slender tail-feathers 

 which stream out behind the bird as he flies, if the 

 tenn flight can properly be applied to the stately and 

 dignified way in which this beautiful lonely bird floats 

 along in mid-air. In size it resembles a partridge, 

 but in colour favours most sea-birds by being soberly 

 clad in black, grey and white — white as to the breast, 

 neck, and head, and grey spotted with black on the 

 back and upper surfaces of the wings. These latter 

 are large for the size of the bird, but somewhat narrow. 

 They are rarely flapped by the bird, who, in common 

 with the albatross, prefers to float in the air, and uses 

 that element to propel it wherever it wishes to go by 

 dexterous steering, to the fussy flutterings of less 

 dignified citizens of the upper atmosphere. Its legs 

 are very short and its feet very small, which, taken 

 in conjunction with the length of its curious and delicate 

 tail, has led to the assumption that it spends most of 

 its time on the wing. Yet it is supposed by naturalists 

 that these birds make a point of visiting the rocks of 

 lonely islets which are their homes every night, and 

 this because they are not seen to feed at sea. That I 

 cannot believe, from the immense distances which I 

 have seen them from land, and also because on going 

 aloft to loose a royal on a fine night I have often heard 

 their peculiar low cry, and seen the shadowy creature 

 flit past like an uneasy ghost. 



