RED-BILLED TROPIC BIRD. 



Phaethon ^thereus. 



Char. Prevailing color white ; the upper parts varied with blackish ; 

 a stripe on the sides of the head, and the outer wing-feathers deep black ; 

 bill deep red; legs yellow, toes black. Length, including elongated tail- 

 feathers, about 33 inches ; the tail-feathers measure about 20 inches. 



Nest. In a hole or crevice of a sea-washed cliff, — sometimes slightly 

 lined with twigs and coarse herbage. 



Egg. I ; purplish white or creamy white, with a delicate purple tinge, 

 and marked with fine spots of rich brown; 2.26 X 1.60. 



The Tropic Bird, soaring perpetually over the tepid seas, 

 where it dwells without materially straying beyond the verge 

 of the ecliptic, seems to attend the car of the sun under the 



