FALMIl'KDES. ^fl 



Boohy, from a small island in the gulf of Edinburgh, where it is very 

 abundant, although it lays but a single egg. It is frequently seen 

 on the coast of France during the winter. The young is brown, 

 spotted with white, Enl. 98(). The remaining species of the Boobies 

 are not yet sufficiently ascertained*. 



Plotus, Lin. 



The Darters have a body and feet very similar to those of a Cormorant, 

 carry a long neck and small head, with a straight, slender, pointed bill, 

 whose edges are denticulated; the eyes and nudity of the face are also the 

 same as in the Pelicans, with whose habits theirs are similar, perching 

 like them on trees. 



Several species or varieties are known from the hot climates of 

 both continents. They are not larger than the duck, but they have 

 a longer neckj. 



Phaeton, Lin. 



The Straw-tailed or Tropical Birds are known by two very long and nar- 

 row feathers that flow from their tail, which at a distance resemble so 

 many straws. There is no naked part about the head. Their bill is 

 straight, pointed, denticulated, and tolerably strong; their feet short and 

 their wings long: their powers of flight on the high seas are consequently 

 great, and, as they rarely quit the torrid zone, their presence announces 

 to the mariner his vicinity to the tropics. On land, where they seldom 

 resort except to build their nests, they perch on trees. 



A few species or varieties only are known, whose white plumage 



is more or less varied with blackish, and which are not larger than 



pigeons §. 



FAMILY IV. 



LAMELLIROSTRES. 



The birds of this family have a thick bill, invested with a soft skin 

 rather than with true horn ; its edges are furnished with laminae or little 

 teeth; the tongue is broad and fleshy, the edges notched. Their wings 

 arc of a moderate length. They pass more of their time on fresh water 

 than at sea. The trachea of the male, in the greater number, is inflated 



« Add the Fou brim {Pelec sula, L.), Enl. 973, Catesb. I, 87; Vieill. Gal. 277. 



f Plotus, or plaiitus, signifies, in Latin, flat-foot. Klein lias employed it for one 

 of his families of the Palmipedes. Linnaeus applied it to the Darters. 



+ Plot, mclanogaster, Enl. 95!) and 960; Vieill. Gal. 278; Wils. LX, Ixxiv, I, 2;— 

 Enl. 107;— Latlu Syn. VI, pi. {)6;—Jnliinga Lcvaillant, T. Col. 380. 



§ Pluset. teiherius, Enl. 369 and 998-— PA. phanicitrus, Enl. 979, Vieill. Gnl. 

 pi. 279. 



