NATATORES. 499 



Sp. 658. TACHYPETES AQUILA. 



Great Erigate-bird. 



Pelecanus aquilus, Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 216. 



leucocephalus, Gmel. Edit. Liuu. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 572. 



palmerstoni, Gmel. lb., p. 573. 



Attagen aquila, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. i. Introd. p. c. 

 Tachypetes aquila, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., torn. ii. p. 187, pi. 274. 



I have received numerous skins of a Erigate-bird from 

 Torres' Straits which are much larger than the succeeding 

 species, and which may be referable to the Pelecanus aquilus 

 of Linnaeus ; but this requires confirmation. If it really be 

 so, then the bird frequents all the seas of the warmer parts of 

 the globe, and retires to rocky islands to breed, such as those 

 in Torres' Straits, Ascension in the South Atlantic, those in 

 the Gulf of Mexico and Elorida. 



Sp. 659. TACHYPETES MINOR. 



Small Erigate-Bird. 



Pelecanus minor, Gmel. Edit. Linn. Syst. Nat., torn. i. p. 572. 

 Fregata minor, Briss. Orn., torn. vi. p. 509. 

 Tachypetes ariel, G. R. Gray. 



minor, Bouap. Consp. Gen. Av,, torn. ii. p. 167, Tachypetes, sp. 2. 



Man-of-War Bird, Edw. Glean, of Nat. Hist., pi. 309. 

 Lesser Frigate, Lath. Gen. Syn., vol. iii. p. 590. 

 Atagen ariel, Gould, MS. — Gray, Genera of Birds, vol. iii. p. 669, 

 Atagen, sp. 2. 



Attagen ariel, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. pi. 72. 



This species of Tachypetes, which is considered to be the 

 old Pelecanus minor of Gmelin, is rather abundantly dispersed 

 over the seas washing the shores of the tropical parts of the 

 Australian continent, particularly those of Torres' Straits. 



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