60 BIRDS 



mers lay but a single egg. When disturbed on their nests 

 they emit an oily substance from their crops very disagree- 

 able to the intruder. 



THE YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD * 



In appearance this bird resembles a large tern and its 

 habits are similar to those of the terns. Intertropical, it is 

 of a wandering disposition, breeding on the islands of mid- 

 ocean thousands of miles apart. It is noted for its elegant, 

 airy, and long-protracted flight. Davie says that on Bour- 

 bon, Mauritius, and other islands east and south of Mada- 

 gascar it breeds in the crevices of the rocks of inaccessible 

 cliffs and in hollow trees. In the Bermuda Islands it nests 

 about the first of May in holes in high, rocky places along 

 the shores. Here its favorite resorts are the small islands 

 of Great Sound, Castle Harbor, and Harrington Sound. 

 The Phaeton, as it is felicitously called, nests in the Baha- 

 mas in holes in the perpendicular faces of cliffs and on the 

 flat surfaces of rocks. A single egg is laid, which has a 

 ground color of purplish-broAvnish white, covered in some 

 specimens over almost the entire surface with fine reddish 

 chocolate-colored spots. 



These species compose the small but distinct family of 

 tropic birds and are found throughout the tropical and sub- 

 tropical regions of the world. Long journeys are made by 

 them across the open sea, their flight when emigrating being 

 strong, rapid, and direct, and immense distances are covered 

 by them as they course undismayed by wind or storm. In 

 feeding, Chapman says, they course over the water, beating 



