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THE TROPIC BIRD. 



Phaeton mthereus, Linn. / id^'t'r^'i 



PLATE CCLXII. Adult Male and Female. 



The specimens from which the figures in the plate were taken, were 

 obtained on the Tortugas, in the summer of 1832, by my kind friend 

 Robert Day, Esq. of the United States' Revenue Cutter, the Marion. 

 They were shot out of a flock of eight or ten, and were in fine condition. 

 I have represented the Male and Female, in what I suppose to be their 

 full summer or breeding plumage ; but not having had an opportunity of 

 studying the habits of this remarkable bird, I am unable to give any in- 

 formation respecting them. 



Phaeton ^thereus, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 219 — Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 893. 



Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 409. 



Teopic Bird, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 503. 



Adult Male in summer. Plate CCLXII. Fig. 1. 



Bill as long as the head, stout, very much compressed, shghtly curved, 

 tapering, acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, the 

 ridge narrow, but rounded, the sides sloping and slightly convex at the 

 base, nearly perpendicular towards the end, the edges sharp, irregularly 

 broken, the tip acute. Nasal groove short, near the ridge ; nostrils linear, 

 very small. Lower mandible with the angle of moderate length, ex- 

 tremely narrow, the dorsal line straight and ascending, the sides erect and 

 shghtly convex, the edges sharp but irregularly serrated, the tip very 

 acute. 



Head rather large, ovate. Neck short and thick. Body rather fuU. 

 Feet very short ; tibia bare for a considerable space ; tarsus extremely 

 short, roundish, covered all round with small round scales ; toes rather 

 small, placed in the same place, and connected by reticulated webs ; the 

 first toe very small, the third and fourth about equal, all scutellate above. 

 Claws small, arched, compressed, rather sharp, that of middle toe largest, 

 with an undulated thin inner edge. 



Plumage soft, blended, on the back and wings rather cpmpact. Wings 



