Color Key to North American Birds Part 16

=104. Stormy Petrel; Mother Carey's Chicken= (_Procellaria pelagica_).

L. 5.5. _Ads._ Sooty black, browner below; upper tail coverts white, _tipped with black_.

Range.--North Atlantic; winters south to western Africa and New Brunswick.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 106.]

=106. Leach Petrel; Stormy Petrel= (_Oceanodroma leucorhoa_). L. 8., W. 6.2. _Ads._ Tail forked; above sooty brownish black; below browner; _lesser wing coverts grayish brown_; longer upper tail coverts _not_ tipped with black. _Notes._ An elfin-like crow of eight notes.

Range.--North Atlantic and North Pacific; breeds from Maine to Greenland and from Farallone to Aleutian Islands; winters south to Virginia and California.

=106.1. Guadalupe Petrel= (_Oceanodroma macrodactyla_). L. 8.4; W.

6.4; T. 3.9, fork 1 in. deep. _Ads._ Similar to _O. leucorhoa_, but with much longer and more deeply forked tail, larger feet, shorter bill, and very broad dusky tips to the upper tail coverts. (Ridgw. in Cat. B. M.)

Range.--Pacific Ocean; (Guadalupe Island, Lower California.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 107.]

=107. Black Petrel= (_Oceanodroma melania_.) L. 9. _Ads._ Sooty black, paler below; wing-coverts grayish, tail forked.

Range.--South Pacific, north to Santa Barbara Islands; breeds on Coronados Islands, southern California.

=108.1 Socorro Petrel= (_Oceanodroma socorroensis_). W. 5.5. _Ads._ Similar to No. 108, but wings longer; tail shorter and less deeply forked; sides of rump _whitish_; no white on under surface of wing.

(Towns.)

Range.--Pacific Ocean; (Socorro Island, southern California.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 109.]

=109. Wilson Petrel; Stormy Petrel= (_Oceanites oceanicus_). L. 7.

_Ads._ Webs of feet with yellow patch: tail not forked; longer upper tail coverts not tipped with black. _Notes._ A weak _weet_, _weet_, and a hoa.r.s.e chattering _patret-tu-cuk-cuk-tu-tu_. (Wilson.)

Range.--Atlantic Ocean; breeds in Southern seas, (Kerguelen Island in February), and migrates north to Newfoundland, spending summer off coast of eastern United States.

Order IV. TOTIPALMATE SWIMMERS.

STEGANOPODES.

Family 1. TROPIC BIRDS. Phaethontidae. 2 species.

Family 2. GANNETS. Sulidae. 6 species.

Family 3. DARTERS. Anhingidae. 1 species.

Family 4. CORMORANTS. Phalacrocoracidae. 6 species, 5 subspecies.

Family 5. PELICANS. Pelecanidae. 3 species.

Family 6. MAN-O'-WAR-BIRDS. Fregatidae. 1 Species.

The members of this Order agree in having all four toes connected by webs, but in other respects they differ widely in structure and, consequently, in habit. The young of all the Steganopodes are born naked, unlike the young of most of the other water birds, which, as a rule, are hatched covered with feathers and can swim or run about soon after birth. The nests of the Steganopodes are, of necessity, therefore, more complex structures than those of birds whose nests are merely incubators and not cradles as well.

Tropic Birds resemble the larger Terns, when in the air, but their wing strokes are more rapid. They usually nest in holes in the face of cliffs, and lay one whitish egg, marked with chocolate.

Gannets are true sea birds, but, as a rule, do not live very far from the land. When breeding, Gannets are usually a.s.sociated in great numbers. Their nests, as a rule, are placed on the ground or on cliffs, and one or two chalky white eggs are laid. At this season the birds are exceedingly tame and in localities where they have not been much molested, one may walk about among the sitting birds without their taking flight. Gannets are powerful birds on the wing. Their vigorous wing strokes are interrupted at intervals by short sails.

They feed on fish which they capture by diving from the air.

The Darters or Anhingas number four species, distributed throughout the tropical parts of the globe, only one species inhabiting America.

This is generally called the Snakebird or Water Turkey in Florida, where it is a common species on the more isolated rivers and lakes.

The name Snakebird is derived from the bird's habit of swimming with the body submerged, when the long, sinuous neck, appearing above the water, readily suggests a snake. At other times Snakebirds mount high in the air and sail about, like Hawks, in wide circles. They build a large, well-made nest in a bush or tree, generally over the water, and lay four bluish white, chalky eggs.

Cormorants nest in large colonies, generally on isolated islets, but sometimes in remote swamps. The nests are placed closely together on the ground, in bushes, and less frequently in trees, according to the nature of the bird's haunts.

Cormorants feed on fish which they catch by pursuing them under the water. They dive from the surface of the water like Ducks, or from a low perch, but not from the air, as do the Gannets.

Pelicans nest in colonies, generally on some small island, building their nests on the ground or in bushes, and laying two or three large, white, chalky eggs.

Brown Pelicans secure their food by plunging on it from the air, generally from about twenty feet above the water. The sides of the bill are then bowed outward, the opening widened, forming, with the pouch, an effective net in which fish, twelve and fourteen inches long, are captured.

White Pelicans, on the contrary, feed from the water, scooping up fishes as they swim. At times a flock of these birds may surround a school of small fish in shallow water and drive them sh.o.r.eward, at the same time actively filling their pouches.

Young Pelicans are fed on fish which they take from the pouch of the parent bird by thrusting their bills and heads well into it and prodding actively about for the food to be found there. Young Cormorants secure their food in a similar manner.

Frigate Birds, of which only two species are known, have a greater expanse of wing in proportion to the weight of their body than any other bird. Their power of flight is consequently unexcelled and they may spend days in the air without tiring. Their feet are as weak as their wings are strong, and are of use only in perching.

The food of Frigate Birds consists chiefly of fish, which they catch from near the surface of the water, or rob from Gulls and Terns by pursuing them, forcing them to disgorge their prey, and catching it ere it reaches the water.

Tropic Birds and Gannet

[Ill.u.s.tration: 112.]

=112. Yellow-billed Tropic Bird= (_Phaethon america.n.u.s_). L. 30; T. 19. _Ads._ Bill yellow; no bars above; middle tail feathers lengthened. _Yng._ Above barred with black; middle tail feathers not lengthened.

Range.--Tropical coasts; breeds in West Indies, Bahamas and Bermudas; casual in Florida; accidental in western New York and Nova Scotia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 113.]

=113. Red-billed Tropic Bird= (_Phaethon aethereus_). L. 30; T. 20.

_Ads._ Bill red; above barred with black; long middle tail feathers pure white.

Range.--"Coasts of tropical America, north on the Pacific coast to Cape Colnett, Lower California; accidental on the Newfoundland Banks.

Breeds on San Pedro Martir and other Islands in the Gulf of California." (A.O.U.)