1 . FREGATA . 445 



[Aruba and Madagascar]; Rothschild, Avif. Laymn, pt. i. p. 21 



(1893) ; Field, Auk, xi. p. 120 (1894) ; A. O. U. Check-l. p. 4{> 



(1895) ; Butlei-, Auk, xiv. p. 200 (1897) [Indiana] ; Alexander, 



Ibis, 1898, pp. 90, 114, 117 [Cape Verde Is.]. 

 Tachypetes palmerstoni, Cassin, U.S. Kvpl. Erped. p. 359 (1858). 

 Attag-en aquilus, Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 853 (1864) ; Beavan, /62s, 1868, 



p. 405 ; G. B. Gray, Hand-l. B. iii. p. 131 (1871). 

 Fregata caroliniana. Lesson, fide G. R. Gray, Hand-l. B. iii. p. 131 



(1871). 

 Atagen aquilus, Ramsay, Pr. Linn. Soc. N. S. TV. ii. p. 203 (1877) ;. 



id. Tab. List Austr. B. p. 25 (1888). 

 Fregata minor, Buller, B. N. Zeal. p. 342 (1873) ; Hume, Str. F. ix. 



p. 119 (1880); Ridyw. Man. N.A.B. p. 83 (1887); Sibree, IbiSr 



1892, p. 271 [Madagascar]. 

 Fregata strumosa, Kittl. fide Hartert, Kat. Mus. Senckenb. p. 23.5' 



(1891). 



Adult male. General colour of plumage black, inclining to sooty- 

 black on the underparts ; feathers of the head, upper back, and 

 scapulars elongate and pointed, the former with a dull oil-green 

 gloss, the latter glossed with bronze-green in freshly-moulted birds^ 

 but becoming purplish with wear; no trace of white patches on the 

 flanks. Tail composed of 12 feathers. Iris dark brown ; bill 

 light purplish blue, white in the middle, the curved tips dusky ; 

 inside of mouth carmine ; gular pouch scarlet or orange, bare space 

 about the eye purplish blue ; feet light carmine above, orange 

 beneath {J. J. Audubon). Total length about 40 inches, culmen 

 from feathers on forehead 3-6-4-4, wing 20-5-25-8, tail 14-0-14-8, 

 tarsus 0'7. 



Adult female. Feathers of the 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 ; bad- of the neck 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 the adult male. Iris 

 dark brown; bill bluish horn- colour; orbits and gular skin dark 

 plumbeous, with a tinge of violet ; feet carmine. Total length 

 about 40 inches, culmen from feathers on forehead 4'3-5'2, wing 

 22-9-26-7, tail 14-7-19-0, tarsus 1-0. 



Male and female immature. Head, neck, and upper part of chest, 

 as well as the middle of the lower breast and beUy, white ; sides 

 and upper breast dark sooty-brown ; rest of the plumage like tliat 

 of the adult female. Iris dull dark blue ; naked skin on throat 

 lavender ; bill horn-colour, darker at base ; feet pale pinkish blue^ 



Hab. Tropical and Sub-tropical seas. 



