i 9 4 
BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 
SULA DACTYLATRA . (Lesson.) 
I append Dr. Bryant’s description and account of this species, 
as I have never met with it. 
Descriptioit. — “ Sexes similar ; form more robust than that of 
the S', fiber ; secondaries and tertiaries, rich brown, the primaries 
of the same color, but darker ; some of the coverts of the primaries 
brownish; tail, with the feathers below, brown, above, hoary, the 
two middle feathers the most so, and the base of all white or whitish ; 
all the rest of the plumage snowy white ; bill, horn-color, with the 
serrations of the upper mandible very distinctly marked ; iris, pale 
yellow ; naked skin around the bill ; eyes and throat, black ; - tarsi 
and feet, yellowish green. 
“ Lesson’s description of this bird is not sufficiently full to enable 
me to decide with certainty whether it is the same as those I pro- 
cured at the Bahamas. If it should prove to be a new species, 
the name elegans would be appropriate, as it is the prettiest of the 
genus. In dimensions, it is about the size of the Sula fusca, but 
heavier and more muscular. I found them breeding but at one 
place, St. Domingo Key, and there some twenty pairs. They appar- 
ently lay their eggs later than the Booby, as the largest of the young 
were not more than half grown, and the eggs of several were freshly 
laid. They were whiter than those of the latter bird, the chalky 
covering being much thicker, and did not differ as much in size or 
