STEGANOPODES. 231 



Australia, New Zealand, N. Pacific, and Atlantic, as far south as Rio de Janeiro. 

 Eggs (24 X 1-6) olive, spotted brown and grey. (B. 1518.) 



Also S. pwrasiticMS. 22". The Long-tailed or Buffon's Skua. Legs olive. Bill horny brown. 

 Forehead, lores, crown, and nape brownish black. Mantle ash-brown, tinged grey. Shafts of 

 first and second quills white, of the rest brown. Neck yellowish, and breast white. Abdomen, 

 flanks, and under wing brown. Breeds in the Arctic Circle, and ranges in winter south as far 

 as the Straits of Gibraltar, to 40° N. on Atlantic side of America, and a little further south on 

 Pacific side. Eggs (2-1 x 1-5) olive, clouded brown. 



Also the genus Megalestris. With short tail, the central pair of feathers projecting more 

 than J" beyond the others. Four species — M. catarrhactes, 21", the Great Skua, head and 

 nape umber-brown, acuminate feathers on neck streaked yellowish brown, primaries umber, 

 back streaked and mottled rufous, below tawny, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, ranging 

 south to Straits of Gibraltar and New England States ; M. chUensis, 21", similar to M. catarr- 

 hcLctes, but brighter in colour, above boldly spotted chestnut, below rich rufous, S. America ; 

 M. arUarctica, 23" to 24", legs black, bill black, above and below sooty brown, back slightly 

 striated, Southern Ocean from S. America to Australia and New Zealand, ranging as far north 

 as Madagascar, and perhaps Ceylon ; M. maccormicH, 21", legs and bill black, head and neck 

 clay-brown, neck-feathers tinged golden, abdomen coffee-brown, mantle, wings, and tail umber 

 as in M, antarctica, Victoria Land and high Antarctic region. (B.M. Cat., xxv. 314-334.) 



Order STEaANOPODES. 



Totipalmate, with four toes united by web. Oil-gland tufted. Fifth secondary 

 wanting. After-shaft rudimentary or wanting. Desmognathous, distinctly con- 

 nected with the Accipitres. Young hatched blind and helpless. 



Mid-tail greatly produced. Phaeton . . Teopic Birds. 



(Pblbcanus . 

 Phalacrocobax 

 Plotus 



Tail rounded or cuneate 



^ SULA 



Tail forked . . . Fbegata 



Pelicans. 

 Cormorants. 

 Darters. 

 Boobies. 

 Frigate Birds. 



Order STEGANOPODES. 



Tropic Birds, Pelicans, Cormorants and Darters, Gannets 

 or Boobies, and Frigate Birds. 



Totipalmate, with four toes united by a web. Hind toe turned inwards. 

 Tongue rudimentary. Oil-gland tufted. Fifth secondary wanting. After-shaft 

 rudimentary or wanting. Plumage of neck continuous. Desmognathous, dis- 

 tinctly connected with the Accipitres. Young hatched blind, either naked or 

 covered with down, undergoing a protracted downy stage, during which they are 

 helpless and fed by parents. Food chiefly fishes, Crustacea, or insects. 



Family PHAETONIDiE (Flying Fishers). Tropic or 

 Boatswain Birds. 

 About the size of the smaller Gulls, and combine the structure of Gannets or 

 Cormorants with habits and appearance of Terns. Plumage satin white or 

 salmon colour, with a few black markings. Bill pointed, not hooked. Nostrils 

 narrowly pervious. Palate imperfectly desmognathous. Mid -tail greatly pro- 

 duced and attenuated. Web between toes not emarginate. Intertropical seas. 

 Single egg, pinkish white, mottled and spotted purple. 



