MAN-0'- WAR-BIRDS 



107 



demonstration analogous to the Peacock's display of his upper tail-coverts, the strutting 

 of the Grouse, and so on. When the pouch is deflated it is invisible lieneath the plumage 

 of the neck. 



Like the Skuas and Jaegers, the Alan-o'-war-birds are predator}- in their habits, and get 

 a large part of their food by robbing the Gulls and Terns, pursuing them and forcing them 

 to drop or disgorge their food, which the pursuer catches as it falls. In their flight they are 

 probably the most graceful and dashing of all birds. They soar for hours at a time with no 

 apparent effort, and frequently make astonishing aerial dives from very great heights. They 

 build their nests, sometimes on the ground and sometimes in stunted bushes, of small, dead 

 twigs, and lay usually one, sometimes two, white eggs about the size of those of a domestic 

 hen. In their breeding habits they are decidedly gregarious, and groups of nests are often 

 placed very close to one another, even when there is no necessity for such proximity. 



MAN-O'-WAR-BIRD 

 Fregata aquila (Linnu-us) 



A. O. U. Xumber ij8 



Other Names. — Hurricane Bird; Frigate Bird; 

 Rabihorcadn. 



General Description. — Length, about 40 inches. 

 Plumage, brownish-black. 



Color. — Adui.t Male: Pluiiicit/c. hr<nc)iisli-hlacL' with 

 green or purplish reflections on head and shoulders, 

 where the feathers are long and lance-shaped ; below, 

 plain : bill, various shades of whitish, flesh color, bluish, 

 or blackish; bare space around eye, livid; sac, carmine 

 to orange; iris, brown; feet, dusky. Adult Female: 

 Less iridescent than male; feathers of back, less elon- 



gated ; back of neck, brown ; wing-coverts, mostly 

 brown with darker centers and paler edges; fori-ncck, 

 breast, and sides, furc ivhitc. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : Usually on low trees or 

 bushes, sometimes on rocks ; extraordinarily sinall for 

 the size of the bird, and flimsily constructed of a few 

 dry twigs. Eggs: i to 3, plain white. 



Distribution. — Tropical and subtropical coasts; in 

 America north to southern California, Te.xas, Louisi- 

 ana, and Florida ; accidental in Kansas. Wisconsin, 

 Iowa, Ohio, and Nova Scotia. 



The Man-o'-vvar-bird is a genuine feathered 

 aeroiilane. if any bird is deserving of that dis- 

 tinction. Without moving its wings, seemingly 

 for hotirs at a time, it calmlv floats high in air, 

 ascending in spirals, or drifting lazily along, 

 directing its easy flight by changes of the angle of 

 its " planes " so slight that any such effort is 

 not apparent. In this respect, and perhaps in 

 certain others, there is a resemblance to the Buz- 

 zards, which, in flight and lack of industry, mani- 

 fest the soporific influences of the tropics. It is 

 distitictly a tropical bird, seldom being seen 

 further north than along the coasts of Florida, 

 the ( julf States, and southern California. 



Breeding is conducted mostly on tropical or 

 subtropical islands, where crude nests of sticks 

 are built on mangroves or low trees or bushes. 

 in each of which one plain-white egg is laid. In 

 the Bahamas large colonies of the birds nest, and 

 eggs are usually seen in February. By late 

 spring the period of nesting is over, and they 

 forthwith appear in large numbers on our Flor- 



ida and Gulf coasts. They are not definitely 

 known to breed in the United States, though I 

 think it probable that they do so occasionally, as 

 tliere are reports of this on islands otif the coast 

 of Louisiana, and on an island near this group 

 in June a member of our party picked up an egg, 

 dropped on the sand, which clearly belonged to 

 this species. 



This bird is very impressive by reason of its 

 size and the enormous stretch of its long, narrow 

 wings, measuring some seven and one-half feet 

 across. When a great flock of thousands soar 

 on motionless pinions, they appear like an aerial 

 army of invasion. Yet after all they are slug- 

 gish, lazy creatures. I have watched them go to 

 roost at sundown in bushes or mangrove trees 

 bv the shore, and seen them sleeping, with head 

 under wings, when the sun was some hours 

 aclimb. Of course, they eat, but somehow I have 

 seldom seen them actually securing food. Occa- 

 sionallv I have watched one snatch a fish or 

 other marine creature from the surface of the 



