Part 79

"Adult.--Head, neck, chest, entire upper parts, wings, and tail dark sooty brown; breast, rest of the under parts, axillars and under wing-coverts of the secondaries pure white. Tail composed of 14 feathers. Iris silvery white, white, or gray; bill whitish green or greenish blue, becoming flesh-colored or bluish at the base; naked skin on sides of face and gular pouch bluish, greenish, or yellowish; legs and feet pale green or lead-green, sometimes inclining to yellowish.

"Adult male.--Length, about 711; culmen from feathers on forehead, 100; wing, 389 to 396; tail, 190 to 195; tarsus, 46 to 48.

"Adult female.--Length, about 711; culmen from feathers on forehead, 100; wing, 389 to 396; tail, 190 to 195; tarsus, 46 to 48.

"Immature in first plumage.--Differs in having the head, neck, chest, entire upper parts, wings and tail brown, much lighter than in the adult; breast, belly, and under parts still paler brown, the feathers fringed with whitish brown, and generally sharply defined from the darker chest; axillars and secondary under wing-coverts mixed with smoky brown.

"More mature birds (? plumage of the second year).--Breast, belly, and under parts largely mixed with white, only the subterminal portion of each feather smoky brown.

"Still more mature bird (? plumage of the third year).--Head, neck, chest, and upper parts darker brown, and more like those of the adult; the breast and belly thickly mixed with the pure white feathers of the adult. These appear to be entirely attained by molt, many half-grown ones being concealed beneath the plumage." (Grant.)

This gannet is quite abundant about the small islands north of Luzon and it probably finds nesting places on some of the more isolated rocks. Gannets lay their chalky white eggs in the sand or construct flat nests of sticks which they place in bushes or trees. One or two eggs are deposited in a nest.

Family FREGATIDÆ.

Bill long and strongly hooked, both mandibles decurved at tip; lateral grooves deep; nostrils situated in the grooves and practically closed; a large naked and brightly colored gular pouch; wings pointed and extremely long; first primary longest; tail long and very deeply forked; feet absurdly small and weak for so large a bird; claw of middle toe pectinate; tarsus very short; plumage black with beautiful green and purple gloss.

Genus FREGATA Lacépède, 1799.

Characters same as those given for the Family.

Species.

a1. Breast and sides black (males).

b1. Larger; culmen, 92 to 112 mm.; wing, 520 to 655; no white patch on flank. ... aquila (p. 206) b2. Smaller; culmen, 58 to 89 mm.; wing, 488 to 533; a white patch on each flank. ... ariel (p. 207)

a2. Breast and sides white (females).

b1. Larger; culmen, 109 to 132 mm.; wing, 612 to 678; no white collar round back of neck. ... aquila (p. 206) b2. Smaller; culmen, 81 to 91 mm.; wing, 510 to 528; a white collar round back of neck. ... ariel (p. 207)

170. FREGATA AQUILA (Linnæus).

GREATER MAN-O'-WAR BIRD.

Pelecanus aquilus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 133. Fregata aquila Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 543; Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 237; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 212; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 40.

Sa-la-gun-ting', Manila; lang-y-san', Cagayancillo.

Cagayancillo (McGregor). Tropical and subtropical oceans of both hemispheres.

"Adult male.--General color black, becoming sooty below; feathers of head, upper back, and scapulars elongate and pointed; head with slight oil-green gloss; scapulars strongly glossed with bronze-green, this color changing to purple when specimen is held away from the light; a trace of green and purple gloss on breast and sides. Iris brown; bill black except the tip which is horn-gray; gular pouch dark crimson; feet blackish brown, flesh-colored below; webs bluish below; nails brown. Extent of wings, 1,830; length of bird, 914; wing, 600; tail, 410; depth of fork, 240; culmen from base, 105; tarsus, 20. Grant gives the following measurements: Length, about 1,016; culmen, from feathers on forehead, 91 to 112; wing, 521 to 655; tail, 355 to 376; tarsus, 18."

"Adult female.--Feathers of head less elongate than in the male and with little or no gloss; upper back and scapulars slightly elongate and almost devoid of metallic gloss; back of head dark brown; fore neck, chest, breast, and sides of belly pure white; lesser and median wing-coverts brown, with paler margins and dark middles; rest of plumage like that of adult male. Iris dark brown; bill bluish horn-color; orbits and gular skin dark plumbeous, with a tinge of violet; feet carmine. Length, 582 to 678; tail, 373 to 483; tarsus, 25.

"Male and female immature.--Head, neck, upper part of chest, and middle of lower breast and belly, white; sides and upper breast dark sooty brown; rest of plumage like adult female. Iris dull dark blue; naked skin on throat lavender, bill horn-color, darker at base; feet pale pinkish blue." (Grant.)

"The eggs of the great frigate bird measure from 59 to 72 mm. in length and from 42 to 51 in breadth." (Oates.) The eggs are white and covered with more or less chalk-like substance.

The frigate pelicans are preëminently soaring birds of wonderful power. In these Islands they are rarely seen, and far more rarely killed, as they usually fly at great heights. During the nesting season they are fearless and may be observed near at hand. The larger species, at least, may nest on some of the more remote and rocky islands of this Archipelago.

171. FREGATA ARIEL (Gould).

LESSER MAN-O'-WAR BIRD.