DESCRIPTIVE LIST 45 



IV. ORDER STEGANOPODES. TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS 



This order comprises those birds which have completely webbed feet, the web 

 even connecting with the hind toe. Five families are represented in the State, and 

 members of a sixth (Phaethontidce) may possibly occur as stragglers. All are 

 large. 



KEY TO FAMILIES 



1. Nostrils evident; bill not hooked; tail short, with long central feathers; whole head feathered. 

 Phaethontidce, Tropic birds. 



1. Nostrils not perceptible; head with some naked skin. See 2. 



2. Bill hooked at tip. See 3. 



2. Bill not hooked at tip. See 5. 



3. Tail very deeply forked. Fregatidoe, Man-o'-war birds. 



3. Tail not forked. See 4. 



4. Bill compressed; gular sac small. Phalacrocoracidce, Cormorants. 



4. Bill flattened; gular sac very large. Pelecanidce, Pelicans. 



5. Bill very thick at base; tail graduated. Sulidoe, Gannets. 



5. Bill slender; neck very long and slender, tail long, rounded. Anhingidoe, Darters. 



Two species of the family Phaethontidce occur in the West Indies and occasionally straggle 

 northward. These are the Yellow-billed Tropic-bird, Phaethon americanus (Grant), a good- 

 sized, light-colored sea-bird with the bill yellow or orange and with the wing about 11 inches, 

 and the Red-billed Tropic-bird, Phaethon oethereus (Grant) which is similar, but has the bill 

 coral-red in the adult. The latter is a little larger, the wing being 11.75-12.00. Both, when 

 adult, have the middle tail-feathers projecting far beyond the others. 



8. FAMILY SULID>E. GANNETS 



Genus Sula (Briss.) 



KEY TO SPECIES 



One species occurs in our State and another southern form is known to have 

 ranged as far north as South Carolina. 



1. Whole lower bill, together with chin and entire throat, naked. Feet greenish or yellow- 

 ish. Wing about 15.75. Booby. 



1. Sides of lower bill and sides of chin and throat densely feathered. Feet blackish. Wing 

 about 19.50. Gannet. 



32. Sula bassana (Linn.). GANNET. 



Description: Ads. White, head and neck tinged with pale straw-yellow; primaries fuscous. 

 7m. Throat and upperparts, including wing-coverts, dark grayish brown, each feather with 

 a small white wedge-shaped spot; breast and belly white, margined with grayish brown. L.. 

 35.00; W., 19.00; T., 9.50; B., 4.00. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Coasts of North Atlantic Ocean. Breeds northerly in Gulf of St. Lawrence and on 

 the British Islands; winters from North Carolina to Gulf of Mexico. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region in the cooler portions of the year. 



This species appears in winter in Pamlico Sound and in the ocean off our shores, 

 where it is found singly or in small straggling flocks. When in quest of food it 

 flies over the ocean with neck outstretched, usually at an altitude of from fifty to 

 one hundred feet. When a coveted fish is discovered, it plunges headlong, striking 

 the water with terrific force. Sailors are said to amuse themselves sometimes by 

 towing a heavy plank upon which has been nailed a fish. The force of the blow 

 when the bird strikes sometimes drives its bill through the board. 



