THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
of the birds and the trouble and time necessary to prepare specimens. In 
fact, it is only due to the paucity of material that the subspecific forms 
have not long since been well defined. The tail is very long and composed 
of fourteen to sixteen feathers. 
The second genus, which I call Sulita, is that represented by the famous 
“ Gannet with a history,” the Pelecanus bassanus of Linne. This bird is 
confined to the North Atlantic, ranging south in winter only as far as the 
Canary Islands, yet it has a close ally on the south coasts of South Africa 
which in winter gets as far north as Loango and Zanzibar. Then with another 
wide hiatus it reappears on the south coasts of Australia and New Zealand 
in the species known as Sula serrator. The close relationship between these 
forms can be gauged by the fact that at one time I ranked the Australian 
form as only subspecifically separable from the European one. The difference 
apparent lies in the coloration of the tail feathers, otherwise the three forms 
very closely agree. They are all large Gannets of white coloration with 
comparatively shorter tails, composed of twelve feathers only. The fact 
that the species differ so little in such widely separated localities as Britain 
and the Antipodes with no continual connection proves the fixity of the form 
and it must be regarded as genericaUy distinct ; there is a narrow bare patch 
of skin apparent on the throat and this has been utilised to confirm generic 
separation, but the facts seem to call for such, even without taking into 
consideration this detail. 
As I shall hereafter show, the covering of the legs and feet differ extremely 
in this genus from that observed in all the other Suline birds, so that its 
generic distinction cannot be denied by any save the most careless of workers. 
The third genus, Parasula, consists of large Gannets, bearing no thin 
naked throat-strip, having white coloration, and short tail composed of 
sixteen or eighteen feathers. Known as Masked Gannets, as the bare skin 
of the face extends behind the eyes, this form is confined to the Tropics, of 
the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, intervening between the Northern 
and Southern Atlantic species of “ Gannet ” referred to the genus Sulita. 
As members of both genera are large somewhat similar birds, while one 
species has only twelve tail-feathers, the other has sixteen to eighteen tail- 
feathers, the generic distinction must be obvious to any unprejudiced 
observer. Prejudice, however, has been allowed to bias the judgment of 
most past and present British ornithologists. This is easily seen by Ogilvie- 
Grant’s treatment of the type species of Pamsula when he wrote : “ Judging 
from the descriptions published by various authors, the colours of the soft 
parts vary greatly. . . . Too much importance must not, however, be 
attached to these differences.” If he had only studied these differences 
158 
