BIRDS — TACHYPETIDAE — TACHYPETES AQUILUS. 873 



Family TACHYPETIDAE. 



Ch. — Bill very long, strong, hooked at the end, and acute ; the calmen depressed and concave ; nostrils basal, placed in the 

 lateral grooves, and scarcely observable ; wings exceedingly lengthened ; tail long and much forked ; tarsi very short ; toes long, 

 with the connecting webs deeply indented ; throat bare, and capable of being much distended. 



This family embraces but one genus. 



TACHYPETES, Vieillot. 



Taehr/pftes, ViEii.i,. Analyse, 1816. 

 Ch. — Bill long, broad at the base, the culman concave, the unguis much hooked and very acute, the sides grooved and com- 

 pressed ; nostrils basal, linear, and hardly visible ; wings very long and pointed, first two primaries longest ; tail lengthened and 

 deeply forked; tarsi very short, strong, compressed, and feathered for half their length; toes long and all united by webs ; 

 claws curved and rather small, gular sac extending nearly to the end of the lower mandible, and admitting of considerable 

 expansion. 



The tropical regions are the principal resort of this genus : they assemble in large numbers 

 in the breeding season, placing their nests on trees, rocks, or on the ground ; they wander to 

 very great distances from land, their power of wing being almost unequalled ; they contend 

 against the severest gales apparently without effort. 



TACHYPETES AQUILUS, Vieillot. 



Frigate Pelican; Man-of-war Bird. 



Tachtjpetes aquilus, Vieill Gal. des Ois. 1825 tab. 274.— Hon. Syn. 1828, No. .S58.— Ib. Cons. Av. II, 1855, 1G6.— 

 Pelecanus aquUus, Link. Syst. Nat. 1766, 216. 



NcTT. Man. II, 1834, 491 — Ato. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 495 : V, 1839, 634.— Ib. Syn. 1839, 

 307.— Ib. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 10 ; pi. ccccxxi.— Gamb. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 2d Ser. I, 

 1849, 227. 

 Jlliagen aqiiila, Gray, Gen. of Birds, 1845. 



Sp. Cii. — Plumage brownish black ; bill long, with the unguis much curved ; wings much lengthened, tail long and forked. 



Mult. Entire plumage brownish black, with changeable reflections of green and purple ; primaries black ; outer secondaries 

 black on their outer webs, and amber brown on their inner, of which color are the inner secondaries ; tail dark brown, with the 

 shafts white on the under side ; bill pale purplish blue, white in the middle, with tlie tips dusky ; inside of mouth carmine ; 

 bare loral space purplisli blue ; iris dark brown ; gular sac orange ; feet reddish above, orange underneath. 



Total length, 41 inches ; wing, 25 ; bill, 5.50 ; tarsi, .80 ; tail, 18. 



The female differs in having the sides of the neck and a broad space on the breast white, the feathers of the back not so 

 lustrous as those of the male, and the wings and tail more tinged with brown. 



Hah. — Texas to Florida ; California. 



The Florida keys are the principal resort of this species on our coast ; here they congregate 

 in large numbers at their breeding stations, several nests being frequently placed upon one 

 tree. As might be supposed from their great depth of wing, they possess great power of 

 flight, not being excelled by any other bird. They are tyrannical in their habits, harassing 

 the terns and smaller gulls, robbing them of their food, causing them to drop or disgorge it, 

 which they descend after with great rapidity, and recover it before it reaches the water ; they 

 also prey upon flying fish, and pick up floating substances in the manner of gulls ; the young 



Sept. 20, 1858. 



110 b 



