A Manual of Philippine BirdsMcGregor, Richard C. (Richard Crittenden)
Science
A Manual of Philippine Birds
McGregor, Richard C. (Richard Crittenden)
Birds -- Philippines
"Always swims with its body entirely immersed, and can remain
under water an incredibly long time. Flies with difficulty when it
first rises from water. Makes straight for some good roosting place,
preferably a stump or log in the edge of the water, where it alights,
turns its back to the sun, spreads its wings, and remains until
thoroughly dry. When dry it flies rapidly, and may often be seen
during the heat of the day soaring at a considerable height." (Bourns
and Worcester MS.)
"Very abundant on the upper waters of the Rio Grande de Cagayan in
Isabela Province, and on the upper Agusan River and its lake system
in Mindanao." (Worcester.)
The Indian darter is fairly abundant along the Baco River in Mindoro
and on the Cagayan River in the vicinity of Aparri, Luzon. Clemens
collected specimens on Lake Lanao, Mindanao.
Family SULIDÆ.
Bill stout and pointed, tapering gradually, the tip slightly curved but
never hooked; a groove along each side of culmen; nostrils completely
closed in adults; wings long and pointed, first primary longest;
tail long and wedge shaped; tarsus short and stout; outer and middle
toes nearly equal; claw of middle toe broad and pectinate.
Genus SULA Brisson, 1760.
Characters same as those given for the Family.
Species.
a1. Upper parts, head, and neck mostly pure white (adult). ... piscator
(p. 204)
a2. Upper parts uniform deep sooty brown.
b1. Breast and belly pure white (adult). ... leucogastra (p. 205)
b2. Breast and belly light brown (immature).
c1. Outer webs of flight feathers washed with hoary
gray. ... piscator (p. 204)
c2. Outer webs of flight feathers dark brown. ... leucogastra
(p. 205)
168. SULA PISCATOR (Linnæus).
RED-LEGGED BOOBY.
Pelecanus piscator Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 134.
Sula piscator Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 432;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 39.
Sula piscatrix Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 237; Oates, Cat. Birds'
Eggs (1902), 2, 210.
Mindanao (Steere Exp.). Oceania, southern Atlantic, Indian and
Australian seas.
"Adult.--General color pure white; primaries, primary-coverts,
outer webs and tips of secondaries, and secondary-coverts hoary gray,
inclining to blackish on outermost quills in freshly molted birds, and
to blackish in worn specimens; chin and upper part of throat naked,
the feathers ending in a straight line across throat; tail composed
of fourteen, or sometimes sixteen feathers. Iris gray; bill grayish
blue, shading into pink or reddish toward the base; naked skin round
eye blue; gular pouch dark slate or black; legs and feet vermilion,
red or dark pink, almost magenta.
"Adult male.--Length, about 750; culmen from feathers on forehead,
89; wing, 394; tail, 10 to 28; tarsus, 35.
"Adult female.--Length, about 710; culmen from feathers on forehead,
81 to 88; wing, 373 to 375; tail, 208 to 210; tarsus, 35.
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