312 
PELECANIN^. PHAETON. 
GENUS VI. PHAETON, Linn. TROPIC BIRD. 
Bill as long as the head, stout, very much compressed, 
slightly curved, tapering, acute, opening to beneath the 
eye ; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, 
the ridge narrow, rounded, the sides sloping and slightly 
convex at the base, nearly erect towards the end, the edges 
sharp, direct, irregularly broken, the tip acuminate ; nasal 
groove short, near the ridge, lower mandible with the angle 
long, and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight and 
ascending, the sides erect and slightly convex, the tip acu- 
minate. Nostrils basal, linear, very small. Head rather 
large, ovate ; neck short and thick ; body rather full. Feet 
very short ; tibia bare for a considerable space ; tarsus ex- 
tremely short, roundish, covered with small round scales ; 
toes rather small, placed in the same plane, and connected 
by reticulated webs ; first very small, third a little longer 
than fourth, all scutellate above. Claws small, arched, com- 
pressed, rather sharp, that of the third toe with a thin entire 
inner edge. Plumage soft, blended, on the back rather 
compact. Wings long, acute, the first quill longest. Tail 
of twelve feathers, tapering, the two middle feathers ex- 
tremely elongated, narrow, and tapering. This genus appears 
to be intermediate between Sula and Sterna. 
427. 1. Phaeton asthereus, Linn. Common Tropic Bird. 
Plate CCLXII. Male and Female. 
Bill, tarsi, and hind toes yellow, the rest of the foot black ; general 
colour of plumage pale pink, or white tinged with carmine, the two 
middle tail-feathers redder ; a curved spot before the eye, and a short 
band behind it, black ; a band of the same colour across the wing from 
the flexure, running narrow along the middle coverts, much enlarged 
on the inner secondaries and their coverts, and including the extremi- 
ties of the scapulars ; outer webs, shafts, and a portion of the inner 
webs of the first four primary quills, also black ; and a spot of the 
same ^n some of the primary coverts ; shafts of two middle tail-feathers 
black, unless toward the end ; some of the elongated feathers on the 
