NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 59 



111. WHITE-lfACED PETREL. PelOffodroma marina (Iiath.) Greog. Dist. — 

 South Atlantic and Southern Seas; casual off the coast of Massachusetts. 



This petrel with a remarkably long, slender bill and very long legs, has been 

 once taken off the coast of Massachusetts. As far as I can learn this species has the 

 same habits which are common to other petrels. Its nesting habits are the same — 

 depositing as it does a single -egg in burrows in the ground. Mr. Crandall has an 

 authentic egg of this species which was taken at Otago, on the southeast side of 

 South Island, New Zealand. The egg, in shape, is the same as that of Leach's Petrel 

 and measures 1.37x1.02. It is well and rather heavily marked for a petrel's egg, with 

 brownish and purplish red in a ring about the larger end, and a few specks and 

 spots over the rest of the egg, except at the small end. 



112. YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC BIRD. Phaethon flavirostris Brandt. Geog. 

 Dlst. — Tropical and sub-tropical coast of America north to Florida. 



In appearance this bird resembles a large tern; the principal external peculiarity 

 is its long middle tail-feathers; the general color of the plumage is white, tinged 

 - with salmon. Its habits are similar to those of the terns. It is inter-tropical in its 

 distribution, of a wandering disposition,' breeding on the islands cf mid-ocean 

 thousands of miles apart. The bird is noted for its elegant, airy and long-prct:icted 

 ' flight. On St. Bourdon, Mauritius and other islands east and south of Jladagascar, 

 this species breeds in the crevices of the rocks of inaccessible cliffs, and i- hollow 

 trees. In the Bermuda Islands it nests about the first of May in holes in Iiish "Dct;' 

 places along the shores. Here its favorite resorts are the small islands of Great 

 Sound, Castle Harbor and Harrington Sound. According to Mr. Buckenham* Trunk 

 • Island, Harrington Sound, seems to be a favorite resort of this species. IIo r.;.7s: 

 "On the shore of this island are a great many crevices among the rocks, which 

 form the nesting places of this bird. I found two nests not more than a foot apart, 

 and each nest had its bird sitting on an egg. The eggs are laid on the bare ground 

 unless anything is handy with which to line thC' nest. The bird never la^s more 

 than one egg at a setting and has several settings each season. The eggs are chalky 

 white, thickly spotted with chocolate-brown becoming more dense at the larger end 

 and often presenting a smeared appearance. In some specimens the color varies 

 from a reddish brown to purplish chocolate, but the predominating color is chocolate- 

 brown. The average measurement is about 2.23x1.53 in. The measurements of 

 three specimens are as follows: 2.24x1.50, 2.19x1.54, 2.26x1.53 in. respectively. The 

 first was found at the entrance of Shark's Hole, along the shores of Harrington 

 Sound, in a hole in the rocks about five feet from the water. The second, on Trunk 

 Island, Harrington Sound, in a crevice in the rocks. There was nothing in the nest 

 ior lining except a few feathers of the old birds. The third was also found . on 

 Trunk Island under a pile of large rocks which had fallen down and formed a 

 place for a nest. This was lined with some weeds and a few feathers." The 

 Phaeton, as this bird is called, breeds in the Bahamas in holes in the perpendicular 

 faces of cliffs and also on the flat surfaces of rocks. A single egg is laid, which has 

 a ground-color of purplish brownish white, covered in some specimens almost over 

 the entire surface with fine reddish chocolate-colored spots; in some specimens this 

 coloring approaches blackness. The average size of the eggs is 2.21x1.54. 



113. RED-BILLED TROPIC BIRD. Phaethon cethereus Linn. Geog. Dist. — 

 Coast of tropical America,north on the Pacific coast to Lower California. 



• In The Museum, November, 1894, pp. 15-16. 



