loS 



PHAETHON KUBBICAUDA. 



Phaeton rubricauda, Boddaert, Tabl. PL Enl. p. 57 (1783); Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exped. p. 395 

 (1858) ; G. R. Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Id. p. 60 (1859) ; Dole, Proc. Boston Soc. N. H. 1869, 

 p. 308 j id. Haw. Alman. 1879, p. 58 ; Wiglesworth, Aves Polyn. p. 73 (1891) ; Rothschild, 

 Avif. Laysan, p. 33 (1893) ; Grant, Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxvi. p. 451 (1898). 



Phaeton phosni cur us, Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. p. 583 (1788). 



Phaeton cethereus, Bloxam, Yoy. 'Blonde/ p. 251 (1826) (nee Linn.). 



Phaethon phosnicurus, Brandt, Mem. Acad. Sc. St. Petersb. ser. 6, p. 252, tab. i. (1839). 



[The above citations refer chiefly to the Sandwich Islands and some localities in the 

 Pacific Ocean. The list could easily be extended.] 



Owing to Bloxam's error, noticed by Mr. Rothschild, of recording this Tropic-Bird 

 under the name of P. cethereus, no writer previous to Mr. Dole appears to have 

 mentioned it as an inhabitant of the Sandwich Islands. The first-named remarked, 

 however, upon the great value that the red tail-feathers possessed in the eyes of the 

 natives, and thereby made it clear that P. rubricauda was the species which he intended. 

 It breeds in several places in the group, especially on Kauai and Niihau, and chooses 

 holes in almost inaccessible cliffs wherein to deposit its eggs, though in Laysan they 

 are laid in hollows scraped in the soil under bushes. When in the Sandwich Islands 

 I shot several specimens from the high rock-walls surrounding the caldera of Kilauea, 

 which are in most parts particularly steep. Mr. Perkins considers this species much 

 more uncommon in the group than P. cethereus. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Satiny white, often tinged with pink ; the 

 upper parts marked with blackish bars or patches, and shewing black marks near 

 the eyes. Bill red; feet yellowish, with black toes. The long median tail-feathers 

 dull red, with black shafts and very narrow webs. 



Dimensions. — " Total length about 36 inches, culmen from feathers on forehead 

 2-55-2-65, wing 12-3-13-4, tail 17-18-5, tarsus 1*2 " (Ogilvie Grant). 



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