BIRDS — PHAETONIDAE — PHAETON PLAVIROSTEIS. 883 



Family PHAETONIDAE. 



CH.-Bill long, broad at the base, and the upper outline gradually curving to the point, edges ■ slightly serrated ; nostrils 

 pervious ; wings long ; tail with the central feathers extremely elongated ; tarsi short and strong ; toes joined by fall webs ; no 

 bare space on the face or throat. 



Sub Family PHAETONINAE. 



Ch.— Bill rather long, with the base broad, the sides compressed and point acute, outline of the upper mandible curving to the 

 tip ; nostrils basal, linear and open ; wings long and pointed ; tail graduated, the two central feathers exceedingly elongated ; 

 tarsi short ; toes long and connected together by full webs. 



There is but one genus under this sub-family which belongs to North America. 



PHAETON, Linnaeus. 



Phaeton, Linn. S. N. 1756. Type P. aethereus. 

 Ch.— Bill about the length of the head, strong, broad at the base, compressed, the culmen curved to the tip, which is pointed; 

 nostrils lateral, basal, and pervious, situated in a short groove near the ridge; wings long and pointed, the first primary longest; 

 tail graduated, the two middle feathers extremely lengthened and narrow ; tarsi short and stout ; toes rather long, all connected 

 together by full webs ; claws small, curved and rather acute. 



These birds frequent the warm parallels of the tropicsj and are generally noticed far from 

 and; at their breeding places they assemble in considerable numbers. They are excellent 

 swimmers, and have enduring power of wing ; flying fishes afford them an abundant supply of 

 food : these are seized as they emerge from the sea for their short flight above its surface. 



PHAETON FLAVIEOSTEIS, Brandt. 



Yellow-billed Tropic Bird. 



Lepturus candidus, Briss. Orn. "VI, 1760, 485. — Bon. Comptes Rendus, XLII, 1856, 767. 



Phaeton candidus, Gray, Gen. of Birds, 1847 ; pi. elxxxiii. 



Phaeton aethereus, Bon. Syn. 1828, No. 361.— Ib. Cons. Av II, 1855, 183.— Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 503.— Add. Orn. 



Biog. Ill, 1835, 442.-18. Syn. 1839, 312.— Ib. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 64 ; pi. ccocxxvii. 

 Phaeton flavirostris, Brandt, Bull. Sc. Acad. Imp. St. Pet. I, 1837, 349. — Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lend. 1856, 144. 

 The Tropic Bird, Edwards, Nat. Hist, of Birds, 1749 ; pi. cxlix. 



Sp. Ch. — White ; wings banded with black ; first five primaries black on the outer webs ; shafts of long middle tail feathers 

 black to near the end, where they are white. 



Adult. General plumage of the body white, with a satiny gloss, and tinged on the head, back, and wings with cream color ; 

 there is rather a broad mark of black in the form of a crescent before the eye, extending over it in a line, and along the side ot 

 the head as far as the occiput ; a band of black extends over the wings, beginning near the flexure and crossing about the 

 middle of the coverts, where it is rather narrow, but occupying a large space on the base of the secondaries, and most of the 

 terminal portion of the tertiaries and scapularies ; the first five primaries are black on the outer webs and a portion of the inner 

 next the shaft, remaining part of inner webs and tips of outer white ; the sixth primary has the outer web black at the base ; the 

 tail is white, the elongated central feathers with a tinge of pale salmon color ; the shafts of all the tail feathers are black nearly 

 'o the end, terminal portion white, as are all the shafts on the under side ; the long hypochndriacal feathers are broadly marked 

 down their centres with greyish black ; bill orange red ; iris brown ; tarsus, hind toe, and outer basal edge of inner toe yellow, 

 remaining part of foot black. 



Length, 30 inches ; wing, 11 ; tail, 18| ; bill, 2.05 ; tarsus, .90. 



Hab. — Florida coast. 



The above description is taken from a very perfect specimen obtained on the south side of 



