Order PELEGANIFOBMES 
No. 289. 
Family PHMTHONTIDM. 
LEPTOPHiETHON LEPTURUS DOROTHEA. 
WHITE-TAILED TROPIC BIRD. 
(Plate 232.)* 
pHiETHON LEPTURtrs DOROTHEA Mathews, Austral Avian Record, Vol. II., p. 7, 1913 ; 
Queensland. 
Phceton Upturns North, Rec, Austr. Mus., Vol. III., p. 89, 1898 ; id., ib., Vol. VI., 
p. 343, 1907. 
Phcethon Upturns Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 103, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. 
Birds, Vol. II., p. 995, 1901; Hall, Key Birds Austr., 2nd ed., p. 103, 1906; 
Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 39, 1908. 
Phcethon Upturns Upturns Mathews, Nov. ZooL, Vol. XVIII., p.^243, 1912. 
Phceton Upturns dorothece Mathews, Austral Avian Record, Vol. p. 7, 1913, 
Leptophcethon Upturns dorothece Mathews, List Birds Austr., p. 101, 1913. 
Distribution. Queensland ; New South Wales. 
Adult male. General colour above and below pearl white ; a circular black line in front 
and over the eye which broadens out behind the latter ; the feathers of the hinder 
crown and nape have dark bases ; median upper wing-coverts black ; primary- 
quills black on the outer web and, including the shafts, white at the tips, the 
black decreasing on the inner ones which have only a black shaft ; outer secondaries 
white, inner ones black and white ; scapulars white, subterminally black with white 
edges ; rump and upper tail-coverts white with black bases and black shafts ; 
tail-feathers white with black shafts ; feathers on the sides of the rump black 
with white margins. Bill red ; eyes white ; feet black ; tibia yellowish. Total 
length 400 mm. ; culmen 44, wing 281, tail 115, middle feathers 380, tarsus 24. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Nest. “ A hole or hollow of a rock or tree-stump ” (Campbell), 
Eggs. “ Clutch one ; ground-colour buff, freckled all over with purplish-brown.” Axis 
57 mm. ; diameter 44 (White, Fiji). 
Nothing is known of the life-history of this bird, as only stragglers have 
yet been recorded on the Queensland and New South Wales coasts. 
Campbell, in his Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, p. 995-1901, gave the 
following notes : 
“ Geographical Distribution. The coasts of West and North-west Australia, 
Northern Territory, Queensland, and New South Wales. 
* The Plate is lettered Phcethon dorothcee. 
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