BOOBY GANNET. 67 



turn from considerable distances, simply by following the course of the 

 Boobies. 



The bills and legs of those which I procured in the brown plumage, 

 and which were from one to two years of age, were dusky blue. These were 

 undergoing moult on the 14th of May. At a more advanced age, the 

 parts mentioned become paler, and when the bird has arrived at maturity, 

 are as represented in my plate. I observed no external difference between 

 the sexes in the adult birds. The stomach is a long dilatable pouch, thin, 

 and of a yellow colour. The body is muscular, and the flesh, which is of 

 a dark colour, tough, and having a disagreeable smell, is scarcely fit for 

 food. 



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

 these birds boobies. Authors, it is true, generally represent them as ex- 

 tremely stupid; but to me the word is utterly inapplicable to any bird 

 with which I am acquainted. The Woodcock, too, is said to be stupid, 

 as are many other birds ; but my opinion, founded on pretty extensive 

 observation, is, that it is only when birds of any species are unacquainted 

 with man, that they manifest that kind of ignorance or innocence which 

 he calls stupidity, and by wliich they suffer themselves to be imposed up- 

 on. A little acquaintance with him soon enables them to perceive enough 

 of his character to induce them to keep aloof. This I observed in the 

 Booby Gannet, as well as in the Noddy Tern, and in certain species of 

 land birds of which I have already spoken. After my first visit to Booby 

 Island in the Tortugas, the Gannets had already become very shy and 

 wary, and before the Marion sailed away from those peaceful retreats of 

 the wandering sea-birds, the Boobies had become so knowing, that the most 

 expert of our party could not get within shot of them. 



Pei.ecanus Sula, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 218 — Lath. Index Ornith. vol. ii. p. 892. 

 SuLA FUSCA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 408. 

 Booby, Sula fusca, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 500. 



Adult Male. Plate CCVII. 



Bill longer than the head, opening beyond the eyes, straight, elongated- 

 conical, broader above than beneath at the base, compressed. Upper 

 mandible with the dorsal line convex at the base, then a little concave, 

 and towards the tip slightly arched, ridge very broad, convex, separated 



E 2 



