TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS 
113. Red-billed Tropic Bird. Phcethon cethereus. 
Range. — Tropical seas, chiefly in the Pacific Ocean; north to southern 
California. 
They breed on several islands in the Gulf of California. This species differs 
from the preceding in having a red bill, and the back being barred with black. 
Their plumage has a peculiar satiny appearance and is quite dazzling when 
viewed in the sunlight. They 
Pale purplish 
Is., Galapagos Is., South Pacific, March 
The eggs are easily told from those of 
size. Collector, R. H. Beck. 
are strong fliers and are met 
with, hundreds of miles from 
land. They often rest upon the 
water, elevating their long tails 
to keep them from getting wet. 
They nest, as do the preceding 
species, on rocky islands and 
are said to also build their nests 
in trees or upon the ground. 
The single egg that they lay 
has a creamy ground and is mi- 
nutely dotted with chestnut. 
Size 2.40 x 1.55. Data. — Daphone 
, 1901. Egg laid in hole of a sea cliff, 
the yellow-billed by their much larger 
[113.1] Red-tailed Tropic Bird. Phcethon rubricaudus. 
Range. — Tropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, accidental off 
the coast of Lower California. 
This is a singularly beautiful species resembling the latter except that the 
central tail feathers are bright red, with the extreme tips white. During 
August and September they 
breed in large colonies on 
small islands in the South 
Seas. On Mauritius Island 
they build their nests either 
in the trees or place them on 
the ground; the nest is made 
of seaweed, sticks and weeds; 
numbers of them nest on 
Laysan Is., of the Hawaiian 
group, concealing their nests 
on the ground under over- 
hanging brush. 
The single egg has a pale 
purplish ground speckled 
with brown. 
Pale purplish ground color 
73 
