Order STEGANOPODES. 
Bill varied, straight and pointed in some, hooked in others, furnished with a pouch beneath, 
more or less developed. Wings pointed, mostly long. Tail very varied. Legs and feet short. 
Toes fully webbed, the hind toe directed inwards, except in one family; the outer toe longer 
than the middle. 
Of oceanic habit, taking their prey either by pouncing or swimming. Young born blind 
and helpless. Sternum wide ; the keel not produced much beyond the middle, its upper edge in 
the prolongation of the posterior part of the sternum ; the furcula united to the keel by a 
close joint, in some completely joined to it. 
Fam. PHAETHONTID2E. 
Bill stout, not hooked at the tip, the margins serrated. Tail with the centre feathers long 
and much attenuated. Legs short. Feet large ; the toes webbed, the hind toe directed inwards 
and webbed. 
Of comparatively small size. Plumage satiny and white. 
Genus PHAETHON. 
Bill stout, acute at the tip as in Sterna, but curved throughout, with the gape wider and 
angulated or lobed; the margins serrated. Nostrils basal, linear, placed in a membrane near the 
culmen. Wings moderate, pointed, the 2nd quill the longest, 1st exceeding the 3rd. Tail short, 
pointed, the central pair of feathers enormously elongated and attenuated. Legs short, tarsus 
reticulate. Feet finely webbed ; hind toe short, directed to the front and webbed. 
PHAETHON EL AVI HOST R IS. 
(THE YELLOW-BILLED TROPIC-BIRD.) 
Phaeton flavirostr is, Brandt, Bull. Acad. Sc. St. Petersburg, ii. p. 349 (1837) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 
1872, p. 482; Hume, Str. Feath. 1874, p. 323, et 1879, p. 116 (List B. of Ind.) ; 
Penrose, Ibis, 1879, p. 277. 
Phaeton candidus (Briss.), Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 850. 
Phaethon flavirostris, Brandt, Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1878, p. 651. 
Boatswain-bird, Bo' sun, of sailors. Faille- en-queue, Seychelles ; Tan aid, Polynesian islands. 
Adult male (Andamans). “ Length 300 inches ; wing 1075 ; tail 1875 ; tarsus 0-9 ; middle toe and claw 1-6 ; bill 
at front 2-1.” {Hume.) 
Adults (West Indies: Mus. Salvin and Godman). Wing 10 - 5 to 11 '2 inches; tail 18-0 to 20-0; tarsus 0‘85 ; middle 
toe (without claw) 1-45 ; bill to gape 2-2. 
