Order STEGANOPODES. 



Bill varied, straight and pointed in some, hooked in others, furnished with a pouch beneath, 

 more or less developed. Wings pointed, mostly long. Tail very varied. Legs and feet short. 

 Toes fully webbed, the hind toe directed inwards, except in one family; the outer toe longer 

 than the middle. 



Of oceanic habit, taking their prey either by pouncing or swimming. Young born blind 

 and helpless. Sternum wide ; the keel not produced much beyond the middle, its upper edge in 

 the prolongation of the posterior part of the sternum ; the furcula united to the keel by a 

 close joint, in some completely joined to it. 



Fam. PHAETHONTID.E. 



Bill stout, not hooked at the tip, the margins serrated. Tail with the centre feathers long 

 and much attenuated. Legs short. Feet large ; the toes webbed, the hind toe directed inwards 

 and webbed. 



Of comparatively small size. Plumage satiny and white. 



Genus PHAETHON. 

 Bill stout, acute at the tip as in Sterna, but curved throughout, with the gape wider and 

 angulated or lobed ; the margins serrated. Nostrils basal, linear, placed in a membrane near the 

 culmen. Wings moderate, pointed, the 2nd quill the longest, 1st exceeding the 3rd. Tail short, 

 pointed, the central pair of feathers enormously elongated and attenuated. Legs short, tarsus 

 reticulate. Feet finely webbed ; hind toe short, directed to the front and webbed. 



PHAETHON FLAVIEOSTRIS. 



(THE YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD.) 



Phaeton flavirostris, Brandt, Bull. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, ii. p. 349 (1837) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 



1872, p. 482; Hume, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 323, et 1879, p. 116 (List B. of Ind.) ; 



Penrose, Ibis, 1879, p. 277. 

 Phaeton Candidas (Briss.), Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 850. 

 Phaethon flavirostris, Brandt, Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 651. 

 Boatswain-bird, Bo' sun, of sailors. Paille-eu-queue, Seychelles ; Tavaki, Polynesian islands. 



Adult male (Andarnans). " Length 30-0 inches ; wing 10-75 ; tail 18 - 75 ; tarsus 0-9 ; middle toe and claw 1-6 ; bill 

 at front 2-1." (Hume.) 



Adults (West Indies : Mus. Salvin and Clodman). Wing 10-5 to 11-2 inches ; tail 18-0 to 20-0 ; tarsus - 85 ; middle 

 toe (without claw) 1*45 ; bill to gape 2 - 2. 



