LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 193 



Food—He also makes the following reference as to the food of 

 this species : « The contents of the stomach consisted of the beaks of 

 cuttiensh. I have not been able to find any other references to its 

 food, which probably does not differ materially from that of other 

 tropic-birds. 



Behavior—Boctov Fisher (1906) refers to its flight as follows: 

 To see these birds at their best one must watch them Hying about in the 

 onght sunshine wlien their pale, salmon-pink plumage shines as though burn- 

 ished, and the satiny feathers stand out lilie scales. The Uvo long, red tail- 

 feathers are possessed by both sexes, and the female is only a trifle less pink 

 than the male. Usually when flying about they were quiet, and progressed by 

 short, nervous wing beats, never attempting to sail. Occasionally, however, 

 they swooped about our heads and made the neighborhood lively. 



I regret that, as I have never seen the red-tailed tropic-bird in life, 

 I can not add anything to the life history of such an attractive bird. 



DISTBIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Warmer portions of the Indian and Pacific 

 Oceans. East to the Galapagos Islands. South to the Kermadec 

 Islands. West to Mauritius. North to the Bonin Islands and Lay- 

 san Island. Also on many intermediate islands. 



Winter range. — Practically the same as the breeding range, extend- 

 ing north in the Pacific Ocean to the Linschoten Islands and Kru- 

 zenstem Rocks and south into New Zealand seas. 



Casual records. — Taken once near Lower California, Guadalupe 

 Island, April 23, 1897. This and the Laysan bird are now considered 

 subspecifically distinct from the birds of the Indian Ocean and Aus- 

 tralian seas (^Scae&pJiaethon rubricaudus rothschildi [Mathews]). 



Egg dates. — Bonin Islands: Five records August 15 and 27, Sep- 

 tember 14, and December 1. Galapagos Islands : One record, March 

 6. Laysan Island: One record. May 23. Mauritius Island: One 

 record, September 15. Lord Howe Island : One record, December 3. 



Family SULIDAE, Gannets. 



SULA DACTYLATRA LeHon. 



BLUE-FACED BOOBY. 



HABITS. 



The blue-faced booby is an inhabitant of the tropical oceans, breed- 

 ing as far north as the West Indies, in the Atlantic, and as far as 

 I San Benedicto Island, off the coast of Mexico, in the Pacific Ocean. 

 Uts principal breeding grounds seem to be on the islands of the 

 Hawaiian group in the mid-Pacific. 



