Oedee STEGANOPODES.] 
[Fam. PELECAKID^. 
DYSPOEUS SEEEATOE. 
(AUSTRALIAN GANNET.) 
Sula australis, Gould, P. Z. S. 1840, p. 177 (nec Steph.). 
Sula serrator. Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Birds, p, 19 (1844). 
Bysporus serrator, Finsch, J, f. O, 1867, p. 339. 
Sula serrator, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, 1st ed. p. 323 (1873). 
Native names. — Takapu, Takupu, and Toroa-haoika. 
Ad. alhus: pileo et collo postico dare ochrascenti-fulvis : remigibus brunnescenti-nigris, scapis flavicantibus, versus 
apicem brunneis, secundariis intimis albis dorso concoloribus : cauda alba, reetricibus quatuor centralibus 
brunneis, ad basin albis : rostro saturate cano : regione opbthaltnica nuda cyanescenti-can4 : plaga nuda ad 
basin rostri et fascia gulari nndft nigricanti-canis : pedibus saturate brunneis, tarso et pedibus antic^ viri- 
dibus : iride pallide argentescenti-brunned. 
Adult. General plumage snowy white ; the crown of the head and back of the neek deep sienna-yellow ; the 
primaries, secondaries, and four central tail-feathers brownish blaek, with white shafts, darkening towards 
the tips. Irides pale silvery brown ; bill dark pearl-grey; bare space surrounding the eyes bluish grey ; 
bare skin at the base of the beak and down the centre of the throat blackish grey ; legs and feet dark brown, 
with a broad line of bright apple-green down the front of the tarsus and continued on the toes. Total 
length 35 inches ; extent of wings 70 ; wing, from flexure, 19 ; tail 10 ; bill, along the ridge 3'5, along the 
edge of lower mandible 4; tarsus 2; middle toe and claw 3*75. 
Young. Upper surface dark slaty grey, each feather with a rounded spot of white near the tip ; the plumage of 
the forehead and vertex darker than the rest of the head, this shade running off into a point on the crown ; 
under surface white, more or less ma ked on the fore neck and breast with sooty grey. The white spots are 
most distinct on the wing-coverts, scapulars, and feathers of the back and rump. The eyelids are dull grey, 
and have not that beautiful blue tint which adorns the fully matured bird ; nor is the green rib on the tarsi 
and toes so conspicuous, for, although present, it is rather of a dull yellowish colour. 
Younger state. There is a somewhat younger bird in my collection which has the white down still adhering to 
the vertex, nape, and hind neck. It differs in having the white spots on the upper surface, and particularly on 
the shoulders, larger and more conspicuous ; also more white on the crown, with a few crescentic grey 
markings on the breast. 
Progress towards maturity. A young bird, in the condition of plumage described above, was brought by me to 
England and presented (with other birds) to the Zoological Society. It was lodged in the Gardens at the 
end of April, and during several successive visits, extending over the following six months, I was able to 
mark the changes of plumage as the bird advanced towards maturity. 
By the middle of July the spots on the upper surface had considerably diminished, being reduced on the 
back and wing-coverts to mere shaft-points. This change was not, however, due to the moulting of the 
feathers, but to the wearing away of the extremities, the shaft-tips being almost denuded. The dark markings 
on the head and neck had also undergone a change ; but this was evidently the result of a new growth, for on 
the nape and hind neek the white now predominated, and was already assuming a yellow tinge. The spotted 
character was, however, still conspicuous on the wing-coverts, back, and rump. The tail-feathers were much 
VOL. II. 2 A 
