BLUE-FACED BOOBY
114. Sula cyanops. 28 in.
Bill, face and naked throat pouch, slaty-blue; eye yellow; feet reddish.
Plumage white except the primaries, secondaries and other tail feathers,
which are black. Young birds are streaked above with gray and brownish,
and are dull white below. Boobies are birds of wide distribution in the
Tropics, this species being rarely seen in southern Florida, but quite
abundant on some of the West Indian islands. Owing to the numerous air
cells beneath their skin, they are very buoyant and can ride the waves
with ease during severe storms. They secure their prey, which is chiefly
fish, by plunging after it.
Nest.—Their one or two eggs are laid usually upon the bare ground on low
islands, or sometimes in weed-lined hollows. The eggs are pure white,
covered with a thick chalky deposit (2.50 × 1.70).
Range.—Breeds north to the Bahamas and the Gulf of California; sometimes
strays to Florida.
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BOOBY
115. Sula leucogastra. 30 in.
This species, commonly called the Brown Booby, is brownish black with
the exception of a white breast and underparts. Young birds are entirely
brownish black; bill and feet greenish yellow; eye white. They are one
of the most abundant breeding birds upon many of the Bahaman and West
Indian Islands. They have great powers of flight and dart about with the
speed of arrows, carrying their long bill and neck at full length before
them. They are awkward walkers, and, owing to their buoyancy, it is
difficult for them to swim under water, but they are unerring in
securing their prey by plunging upon it from a height.
Nest.—They breed in colonies of thousands, laying their two eggs upon
the bare sand or rocks. The eggs are chalky white, more or less nest
stained (2.40 × 1.60).
Range.—Breeds in the Bahamas and West Indies; wanders north casually to
the Carolinas.
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GANNET
117. Sula bassana. 35 in.
Primaries black; rest of plumage white; back of head tinged with straw
color; bill and feet bluish black. Young grayish or brownish black,
mottled above and streaked below. This species is the largest and most
northerly distributed of the gannet family. Thousands upon thousands of
them breed upon high rocky islets off the British coast. The only known
nesting places used by them in this country are Bird Rock and
Bonaventure Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; in these places they
nest by thousands, their rough piles of seaweed touching each other in
long rows on the narrow ledges.
Notes.—A harsh “gor-r-r-rok.” (Chapman).
Range.—North Atlantic, breeding, on the American side, only on islands
in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Winters along the whole United States
coast, floating in large flocks out at sea, and rarely coming on land.
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