556 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVIII. 



shore at " ' Tuckerstown Beach,' May i, 1881," and says: 

 " The bird is common enough at sea a hundred or two miles 

 from the Bermudas, but I never saw one near the islands." 



112. PhaetJionamericamis Grant. Yellow-billed Tropic Bird; 

 " Long-tail."— The Yellow-billed Tropic Birds were perhaps the 

 • most conspicuous birds in Bermuda until the middle of August, 

 when their numbers seemed to decrease. These birds lay 

 one egg with brown markings, in holes in the cliffs, almost 

 always with no attempt at a nest ; as they are very close sitters, 

 many opportunities are offered for study at short range. Mr. 

 Owen Bryant found chicks in the " natal down " on Castle Island 

 on June thirtieth. Eggs were found in Harri ngton Sound as 

 late as July twenty-sixth, and a downy young bird was found on 

 Brangman's Fort on August twelfth. 



I was very much interested in observing the change in the 

 plumage of the young "Long-tail," as seen in many specimens. 

 The bird emerges from the egg covered with puffy white down, 

 shaded with gray on the wings, and has a pale grayish bill, gray 

 feet, and gray, unfeathered lores. This " natal down " is changed 

 for a plumage of white, with black spots on the head, wings and 

 back, and one black spot on the end of each tail-feather. The 

 bill is yellowish flesh-color and grayish ; the lores are feathered, 

 and the tail-feathers are all of the same length. During the 

 persistence of this plumage, which in being speckled resembles 

 that of the Red-billed Tropic Bird, the bill becomes yellowish 

 orange, the tint which persists throughout life. The fact that I 

 never saw a speckled bird on the wing, but always on the " nest," 

 leads me to suppose that the speckled plumage is exchanged for 

 a plumage indistinguishable from that of the adult bird, before 

 the bird-of-the-year takes flight ; and it seems as if the change 

 could not be due to wear, as the bars and spots of black are 

 almost half an inch from the ends of the feathers. 



194- Ardca herodias Linn. Great Blue Heron.— I saw one 

 of these birds in Tucker's Town Bay, July fifteenth, and another 

 was seen on an island near Hamilton Harbor on the eighth of 

 August^ Capt. Savile G. Reid ('84, p. 242), quoting Major 

 tw ! '^46 the nest of this bird, containing 



uoeggs^was found amongst the mangrove trees at Hungry 

 ^'^y- This IS said to be the only known nest-record. 



