WATER BIRDS. 65 
the under surface of the wings and tail which are very light slate. Usually the head, 
neck and breast are sooty-black, the remainder of the upper parts being slate-color; the 
bill and feet black. In winter the adult has the forehead, nape and most of the under 
? 
parts pure white; the crown, occiput and auricular region mixed black or slaty and white; 
the back, wings and tail pearl-gray. The young of the year are similar to winter adults, 
but always have more or less brownish on the upper parts and are rather gray than clear 
white on the sides below. Length of adult 9.00 to 10.25 inches ; Wing, 8.25; tail, 3.75 (forked 
-90 inch); culmen, 1.10. 
Order IV. STEGANOPODES. Totipalmate Swimmers. 
KEY TO FAMILIES. 
A. Bill without visible nostrils but distinctly hooked at tip. B, BB. 
B. Tail deeply forked. Family 14, Fregatide, Frigate Birds (not found 
in Michigan). 
BB. Tail not forked. ©, CC. 
C. Bill less than five inches long. Family 12, Phalacrocoraci- 
dee, Cormorants. Page 66. . 
CC. Bill more than ten inches long. Family 13, Pelecanide Pel- 
icans. Page 68. 
AA. Bill not distinctly hooked at tip. D, DD. ; 
D. With small but distinct nostrils. Family 9, Phaethontide, Tropic 
Birds (not found in Michigan). 
DD. Without visible nostrils. E, EE. 
E. Tail fan-shaped, rounded; neck very long and slender. Family 
11, Anhingide, Snake Birds (Tropical birds of doubtful 
occurrence in Michigan. See Appendix). : 
EE. Tail cuneate or wedge-shaped; neck short and thick. Family 
10, Sulide, Gannets. Page 65. 
Family 10. SULIDA. Gannets. 
26. Sula bassana (Linn.) Gannet. (117) 
: n oose, Solon Goose.—Pelecanus bassanus, 
Lien Oe a ene cow 6 and authors generally.—Sula americana, 
Bonap., 1838.—Pelecanus maculatus, Gmel., 1788 (young). 
The four-toed, fully webbed feet, wedge-shaped tail and large size form 
a combination which is characteristic, the shape of the tail and the pointed 
bill without a hooked tip separating it perfectly from the pelicans and 
cormorants with which it might otherwise be confounded. 
Distribution.—‘“ Coasts of the North Atlantic. Breeds on Bird Rock 
and Bonaventure Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and on islets off the 
British Islands. Winters from North Carolina coast south to Gulf of 
Mexico, and on coasts of North Africa, Maderia, and the Canaries; occurs 
off eastern United States in migration; casual north to Greenland; acci- 
dental in Indiana and Ontario.” (A. 0. U. Check-list, 3d edition). i 
The Gannet is a North Atlantic seabird depending for its food solely 
on fish and rarely found at any distance from the coast. In America 
it is most abundant in and about the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where doubtless 
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