306 BULLETIN 121, "UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



to be annoyed, nor did the noddies ever get any fish so far as I could see. 

 Dusky shearwaters would occasionally fly about a pelican, apparently to pester 

 it, for one day I observed a pelican take refuge on the top of a cliff from a 

 number of them. 



The California brown pelican is practically nonmigratory, like its 

 eastern relative, but it is much given to wandering both north and 

 south of its breeding range between nesting seasons. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



Breeding range. — Islands off the Pacific coast from the Santa 

 Barbara Islands (San Miguel, Anacapa, Santa Cruz, etc.) south- 

 ward along the Mexican coast to the Tres Marias and Galapagos 

 Islands. 



Wi7iter range. — Between breeding seasons it extends its range 

 northward along the coast to southern British Columbia (Burrard 

 Inlet) and in the interior to central British Columbia (Chilcotin 

 District) and southward along the Pacific coast of South America 

 to Chile (Atacama and Valdivia). 



Migration. — Irregular and prolonged. Main northward move- 

 ment seems to come in July. 



Casual records. — Barely wanders inland in California; Stanislaus 

 County, September 19, 1913. 



Egg dates. — Los Coronados Islands : Thirt3-three records, March 

 29 to June 22 ; seventeen records, April 4 to May 6. 



Family FREGATIDAE, Man-o'-war-birds. 



FREGATA MAGNIFICENS ROTHSCHILDI Mathews. 



MAN-O'-WAR-BIRD. 



HABITS. 



This well-known buccaneer is widely distributed over the warmer 

 waters and tropical coasts of both hemispheres, where several species 

 and subspecies have been recognized by recent investigators, all of 

 which are closely related. Its i:)opular names, man-o'-war-bird, 

 frigate bird, or frigate pelican, reflect its well-known character as a 

 pirate and a tyrannical freebooter. But, with all its faults, it is a 

 picturesque character and one can not help admiring its wonderful 

 aerial evolutions, for which it is so highly specialized, and which 

 make it such a noticeable and an interesting feature in the bird life 

 of tropical seas. 



Courtship. — One of the most curious traits of this species is the 

 inflation of the great red pouch of the male, which plays such a con- 

 spicuous part in his courtship. Dr. Walter K. Fisher (1906) gives 

 a very good account of it as follows : 



