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 extremities 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 on some of the primary coverts; shafts of two middle tail-feathers black, unless toward the end; some of the elongated feathers on the hind part of the sides greyish-black in the centre. Female less tinged with red, and having the tail-feathers less elongated. _Male_, 29-1/2, 38. _Female_, 26, 34. Rare on the coast of Florida. Migratory. Phaeton æthereus, Bonap. Syn. p. 409. Tropic Bird, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 503. Tropic Bird, Phaeton æthereus, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 442. FAMILY XLII. LARINÆ. GULLS. Bill of moderate length, straight, compressed, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line generally straight until toward the end, when it is decurved, the ridge convex, the nasal groove rather long, the edges sharp, direct, overlapping, the tip rather acute and declinate; lower mandible with the angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line ascending and nearly straight, with an angular prominence at its commencement. Nostrils submedial or basal, oblong. Head of moderate size, ovate; neck of moderate length; body rather stout. Legs short or of moderate length; tibia bare at its lower part; tarsus anteriorly scutellate; toes four, the first very small, free, the third longest; anterior toes connected by webs. Claws small, arched, compressed, rather acute. Plumage full, soft, blended, somewhat compact on the back and wings, the latter long and pointed; tail of twelve feathers, even, rounded, or emarginate. Tongue long, slender, pointed; œsophagus very wide; stomach rather small, moderately muscular, with a dense, longitudinally rugous epithelium; intestine of moderate length and width; cœca small; cloaca globular. Trachea simple, with a single pair of inferior laryngeal muscles. Nest on the ground, rudely constructed. Eggs few, not exceeding four, spotted. Young covered with down. GENUS I. RHYNCHOPS, Linn. SKIMMER.