444 NATATORES. 



four inches. The head and neck are of a buff color, all the 

 rest of the plumage white, except the wing primaries, which are 

 black. This species is also included among the birds of Ma- 

 deira and South Africa. 



The AMERICAN GANNET, S. Americana, is thirty-seven inches 

 in length. Near the base of the upper mandible is "a sharp pro- 

 cess and suture," which this bird can move in a small degree in 

 swallowing a fish. This was formerly supposed to be identical 

 with the European Gannet, but is now considered a distinct 

 species. 



The Booby Gannet, S.fusca, (Lat. tawny,) has the head, neck, 

 and all the upper parts dusky brown ; the under parts white ; 

 the face, bill and feet yellow. Its length is thirty-one inches. 



The term Booby is more particularly applied to this species 

 on account of the stupidity which it shows when assailed, calmly 

 waiting to be knocked on the head, as these birds often do when 

 sitting on shore, or when perching on the yard of a ship till the 

 sailor climbs to their resting place, and takes them off with the 

 hand. Notwithstanding all that has been said and written about 

 the stupidity of this bird, its dullness may be questioned ; it may 

 not, like other birds, associate danger, certainly not at first, with 

 the appearance of man ; its wings are so long, and its legs so 

 short, that when once at rest, it has difficulty in setting the for- 

 mer in motion, and when surprised has no resource but its beak, 

 which is seldom feared by the aggressor. Audubon says : " I 

 am unable to find a good reason for those who have chosen to 

 call these birds boobies.'" It has been affirmed by many writers 

 and eye-witnesses that this bird suffers greatly from the persecu- 

 tions of the Frigate-bird, and the Lestris or Skua Gull, which force 

 it to disgorge its food. All the old voyagers abound in entertaining 

 stories relating to this subject, and it is hardly credible that all were 

 mistaken. Audubon, however, says, "this / have never wit- 

 nessed." The nest of the Booby is placed on the top of a bush 

 at a height of four to ten feet; sometimes on ledges of rocks cov- 

 ered with herbage. It lays one egg, of a dull white color, about 

 as large as that of a common hen. This bird ranges from 

 Georgia southwardly, but is occasionally seen farther north. It 

 is found in large numbers on Noddy island, one of the Tortugas, 

 in company with the Noddies. 



TROPIC BIRDS, OR PHAETONS. 



These birds, (Phaeton,) are distinguished by two long slender 

 tail feathers, and well known to navigators as the harbingers of 



