324 BIRDS. PALMIPEDES. 



thered ; the three fore-toes long, and half-webbed ; wings 

 very long and straight ; tail much forked. 



T. aquilus, Vieill. (Pelecanus aqxilus, Lath.) Frigate Bird. Body 

 and orbits black, glossed with green ; bill red; belly of the female 

 white. The old male has a bright red fleshy membrane under 

 the throat. 3 feet long. Southern Seas. Shaw, xiii. pi. 13. 

 This species has its English name from its lengthened form, rapid movement, and 



the spirited manner in which it attacks the birds which it compels to disgorge. 



Gen. 16. SULA, Briss. Pelecanus, Lin. 



Bill long, stout, in the form of an elongated cone, very thick 

 at the base, compressed towards the tip, which is obliquely 

 curved ; cleft beyond the eyes ; edges of both mandibles ser- 

 rated ; face and throat naked ; nostrils basal, linear, conceal- 

 ed ; legs short, stout, placed far behind, all the toes connect- 

 ed by a web ; claw of the middle toe serrated ; wings long ; 

 tail conical, and composed of twelve feathers. 



S. alba, Meyer. (P. Bassanus, Lin.) The Gannet or Soland Goose. 

 Top of the head and occiput ochre-yellow ; the rest of the plu- 

 mage milk-white, except the quills of the bastard wing, which 

 are black ; bill bluish, cinereous at the base, white at the point ; 

 naked membrane surrounding the eyes blue; the membrane which 

 forms the prolongation of the opening of the bill, and that extend- 

 ing on the middle of the throat blackish-blue ; iris yellow ; claws 

 white ; tail conical. 2 feet 7 or 8 inches long. Inhabits Nor- 

 thern Europe, c. B. Shan, xiii. pi. 11. 



This species chiefly haunts the northern regions of the two continents. They 

 breed abundantly on the Bass Island in the Firth of Forth, on Ailsa, off the coast 

 of Ayrshire, the Skellig Isles, on the coast of Kerry in Ireland, the Islands of St 

 Kilda, Orkney, Shetland, Faroe, &c. The Gannet arrives in the districts which we 

 have just mentioned in March, and continues till September; and a few seem to 

 stay about their breeding stations all winter. The female lays one egg, or more 

 frequently two, which are white, of a rough surface, a long shape, and remarkably 

 small for the size of the bird, being scarcely larger than those of a duck. The male 

 and female incubate, and go a-fishing by turns. The young begin to be taken in 

 August, and are sold every season in numbers in the markets of Edinburgh. 



S. Candida, Briss. (P. piscator, Lin.) The White Gannet. Body 

 white ; face red ; quills black. 2 feet 7 inches long. Inhabits 

 China and New Holland. Shaw, xiii. 103. 



Gen. 17. PLOTUS, Lin. 



Bill long, perfectly straight, slender, spindle-shaped, sharp- 

 pointed ; edges of the upper mandible dilated at the base, but 

 compressed and inflected in the other portions ; both mandi- 

 bles finely serrated ; nostrils linear, and hid in a shallow 

 groove ; legs short, thick, and strong, tarsus much shorter 

 than the middle and outer toe ; all the toes connected by a 

 web ; wings long ; tail very long. 



P. melanogaster, Lath. The Black-bellied Darter. Back, scapu- 







