LIFE HISTOEIES OF NORTH AMERICAN PETRELS AND PELICANS. 307 



The man-o'-war-bird proved scarcely less entertaining than the albatrosses. 

 The curious and excessivelj^ bizarre appearance of the male at this season of 

 the year compels attention. His antics are as extraordinary as his looks, and 

 when engrossed in the task of making himself attractive his self-absorption and 

 apparent vanity are highly diverting. During the courting period the gular 

 pouch of the male is enlarged, and before the brooding cares have begun he 

 inflates it to a large size, and at the same time it becomes a bright red color. 

 The bird looks as if there were a balloon, such as children dangle on a string, 

 fastened to its throat. 



The pouch is apparently a large air-sac, connected only indirectly with the 

 lungs, which can not be emptied readily nor Inflated instantly. It varies in 

 the intensity of its carmine or crimson, and catching on its surface the sheen of 

 the skj', shows at times bluish hues, or, becoming somewhat collapsed, turns a 

 translucent orange about the sides. It is no uncommon occurrence to see a male 

 bird sitting on the nest with the sac blown out, obscuring the whole front of the 

 creature, only the bill and eyes appearing over the top. For hours he sits on 

 a newly-made nest without once leaving, or scarcely altering this position. 

 But if the female appears somewhere overhead, sailing to and fro, he suddenly 

 arouses himself from the lethargy, and as she passes he rises partially from 

 a sitting posture, throws back his head, spreads his wings, and protruding the 

 brilliant pouch, shakes his head from side to side, uttering a hoarse cackle. 

 Occasionally, when the female alights near, he waves his pouch from side to 

 side, the head being thrown well back and the wings partially spread. At the 

 same time the long, greenish, iridescent, scapular feathers are fluffed up and 

 the creature presents a most unusual and absurd appearance. In this posture 

 he chuckles again and again, and rubs his pouch against his mate, who usually 

 Ignores him completely and flies away. These performances take place before 

 the egg is laid ; afterwards the male ceases to inflate his sac. 



Nesting. — Prof. Homer R. Dill (1912) estimated that the number 

 of man-o'-war-birds nesting on Laysan Island was about 12,500, and 

 says : " They nest in colonies in the tops of Ioav bushes which, if 

 placed near together, would cover about 6 acres. As it is, however, 

 they appear to cover many times that amount of space." This seems 

 like a large colony, but it looks very small beside the immense 

 colonies of other sea birds on this wonderful island. 



Of their nesting habits on this island Doctor Fisher (1906) says: 



At Laysan the birds live in colonies varying from a few pairs to many, and 

 the nests are always built on the tops of low bushes, sometimes very close to- 

 gether. The species has congregated almost entirely on the eastern half of the 

 island, and their villages are spread over the inner slope of the old atoll basin. 

 The nests, which are sometimes so old that they have become mere masses of 

 filth, are scarcely more than platforms of sticks, not entirely devoid of leaves, 

 woven together loosely with morning-glory {Ipomaea msula7-is) vines. 



Both parents take turns in covering the egg, which is a necessity, for if the 

 nest were left without an occupant other frigate birds would quickly appro- 

 priate its material, especially if the nest were new. Consequently, even before 

 the egg is laid, either bird holds down the property, as it were, against 

 marauding neiglibors. After the nestling is out this vigilance is all the more 

 necessary, for if left unprotected a young bird would very likely serve as food 

 for some watcliful reprobate of the vicinity. Mr. Snyder saw an old frigate 

 bird snatch up and fly away with a young of the same species, whose parent had 



