220 CASSELL'S BOOK OF BIRDS. 



compact build of their bodies. Their beak is about the same length as the head, and compressed 

 laterally — its upper surface slightly curved, its apex acutely pointed, and its cutting edges finely 

 denticulated. The legs are small in proportion to the size of the body, and the hind toe connected 

 with the inner one by but a very narrow web. The wings are long, and the tail composed of twelve or 

 fourteen quills ; the central tail-feathers are remarkably prolonged, and present a structure that is 

 quite peculiar, owing to the laxity and sparseness of their barbs. Their general plumage is thick and 

 delicately tinted. " No one who sees the Tropic Birds for the first time," says Popping, " would 

 regard them as inhabitants of the sea, but would rather imagine them to be land birds that had 

 strayed by accident far into the illimitable desert of the ocean. In strength of wing they are 

 unrivalled. Without moving their pinions in the slightest degree, or turning the body, they mount 

 quickly to a great altitude, and there seem to repose upon the air, as if it were a solid support. 

 Only when engaged in fishing, or when they perceive a ship, do they exchange this state of luxurious 

 repose for active exertion. On such occasions down they come from the skies with astonishing speed, 

 and never seem tired of circling round the vessel, as though narrowly watching all that may be 

 passing on board. Frequently they soar so high as to be completely invisible except to a practised 

 eye, but they are very rarely seen to swim." 



THE WHITE-TAILED TROPIC BIRD. 



The White-tailed Tropic Bird {Phaeton athereus) is strikingly beautiful. Its head, neck, and 

 under parts of the body are pure white, delicately tinged with red ; the face is marked about the eyes 

 with a broad stripe of black ; the back and mantle are white, marked with a crooked dark line ; the 

 wings are black, bordered with white. The eye is brown, beak coral-red, foot dusky yellow. The 

 length of this bird is two feet five inches, of this one foot five inches belongs to the centre tail- 

 feathers ; the breadth is three feet four inches. The White-tailed Tropic Birds are commonly met 

 with upon the Atlantic Ocean, and, according to Latham, are found in abundance in the South Sea 

 Islands, but are especially numerous in Palmerston Island, where the trees are frequently loaded with 

 them. Ellis tells us that in the latter island they are so tame as to allow themselves to be taken 

 from the branches with the hand. " These," says Bennett, " are amongst the most beautiful of all 

 the oceanic birds, and excite admiration as the rays of a bright sun shine upon their chaste and 

 delicate satin plumage ; they are as gentle in manner as graceful in flight, and it is pleasing to watch 

 their evolutions, for when soaring to a great elevation the action of their wings is slow, accompanied by 

 a jerking motion, rising and falling in the air, at the same time uttering their peculiar, shrill notes. 

 Sometimes they are resting on the surface of the water, and in calm weather occasionally seat 

 themselves on the backs of turtles as they float along in lazy enjoyment." 



Sailors formerly believed that the appearance of Tropic Birds indicated the contiguity of land ; 

 this idea, however, is erroneous, as they are frequently seen at a great distance from shore. According 

 to Bennett this species has been seen 1,000 miles from the coast. The long tail-feathers of this 

 beautiful bird are in great request. 



THE RED-TAILED TROPIC BIRD. 

 The Red-tailed Tropic Bird [Phaeton phmnicurus) has, like the preceding species, white 

 plumage tinged with rose-colour ; a broad, black, transverse band, which commences in front of the 

 eyes, is prolonged towards the back of the head into a point ; the centre of the secondary quills, and 

 the feathers on the sides are deep black ; the shafts of the primary quills are black nearly to the tips. 

 The middle tail-feathers are white towards their base, but elsewhere bright red with black shafts. The 

 'eye is blackish brown^ beak scarlet, with a pale blue stripe at its base, and the tarsus faint blue ; the 



