128 MANUAL 



lover 6f the tempest ; the other the calm, gentle, — yet no less 

 master of the air — Dove-like Commander of the Sky, who 

 views all below him with unmoved eye and unruffled breast, 

 yet conscious of a power that guides him even in the fury of 

 the storm. Thus the two birds picture themselves to my 

 mind. The description of the Genus PhvETON, of Linnseus, 

 as given by Professor Baird, is : 



" Bill about the length of the head, strong, broad at the 

 base, compressed, the culmen curved to the tip, which is 

 pointed ; nostrils lateral, basal, and pervious, situated in a 

 short groove near the ridge ; wings long and pointed, the first 

 primary longest ; tail graduated, the two middle feathers ex- 

 tremely lengthened and narrow ; tarsi short and stout ; toes 

 rather long, all connected together by full webs ; claws small, 

 curved and rather acute." 



At a little distance the Tropic Bird does not look very un- 

 like an immense Dove or Pigeon with two immensely long, 

 streaming tail-feathers. A very little stretch of the imagina- 

 tion would picture it as an object of veneration and worship 

 throughout the splendid dominions, on festal occasions, of the 

 Montezuman dynasty — this Gull-like Hun Bird. 



Genus, Phcethon or Phceton, The Tropie Bird (2 species). 

 (Formerly called Lepturus.) 



FAMILY LVIII LARIDAE THE GULLS 

 AND TERNS 



Latin larus, Greek laros, " a ravenous sea-bird the Mew." 

 This is the last large family with which we have to deal ; it 

 is a large family, yet the singular regularity or conformity of 

 structure which runs through all of its members renders it an 

 exceedingly easy one of which to treat. With the exception 

 of one or two species, the Gulls and Terns can usually be told 

 at sight. They have, generally speaking, long and powerful 

 though rather slender wings, and are capable of long-contin- 

 ued flight and surprising agility. Their bodies are long and 

 slender rather than short and robust. There is very little 



