346 Murphy, Birds of Trinidad Islet. [f$ 7 



North of the Equator, on April 23, 1913, an immature Booby, probably 

 of this same species, flew around the Daisy just after sunset and finally 

 alighted on the prow of the stern whaleboat. It paid little attention to the 

 helmsman, and was not disturbed even by the noise and riot of a rat-hunt 

 on board. About dusk it worked its head down between the scapular 

 feathers, its bill pointing straight down its spine, and slept soundly. The 

 gentle motion of the ship did not disturb its balance; it swayed slightly, 

 but rested firmly on both feet. At half past five next morning it was dis- 

 turbed by a sailor entering the stern boat to get a bucket, and flew off. 



Two other Boobies, Sula cyanops and Sula leucogaster, have been taken 

 at Ascension, Fernando Noronha, or elsewhere in the tropical Atlantic, 

 but neither species has yet been recorded from Trinidad. 



11. Fregata minor nicolli Mathews. Fregata aquila, Saunders, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc, 1880, p. 103. Ogilvie-Grant, Cat, B. XXVI, p. 447. 

 Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, p. 215. Nicoll, Ibis, 1900, p. 073. Fregata minor 

 nicolli, Mathews, Austral Avian Record, II, No. 0, 1914, p. 118. Roths- 

 child, Novit. Zool. XXII, 1915, p. 145. 



The recent study by Mathews, together with prompt corrections and 

 elaborations by Rothschild, have split up the Man-o'war Birds into five 

 species, of which F . minor is represented by five races ranging through the 

 Indian and western Pacific Oceans, and northward in the Atlantic to 

 Trinidad. Fregata aquila is now stated by Rothschild to be confined to the 

 type locality of Ascension Island, while the Trinidad form, based on the 

 study of a series (apparently about twelve specimens), has been described 

 by Mathews as a subspecies of F. minor. 



Man-o'-war Birds, of either this or the following species, are said to nest 

 in large numbers on the crags near the North Point of Trinidad. They 

 have been found incubating in August, but, according to Nicoll, were not 

 breeding in January, 1900. 



12. Fregata ariel (Gould) subsp.? Fregata ariel, Sharpe, Ibis, 1904, 

 p. 214. Nicoll, Ibis, 1900, p. 073. ' Atlantic form ' of Fregata ariel, 

 Mathews, Austral Avian Record, II, No. 0, 1914, p. 121. 



Two specimens of this small species have been brought to the British 

 Museum from Trinidad — an immature example collected by the explorers 

 of the Discovery, and an adult male obtained by Nicoll. 



All which I saw were immature birds. I have none in my collection, 

 but a specimen caught on a fish hook was skinned by the captain of the 

 Daisy, and is now, I believe, in the Milwaukee Museum. I find in my 

 notebook the following incomplete description of this specimen, together 

 with a mention of its small size: — Head and neck white; a chestnut stripe 

 running from the mentum down the front of the neck to the upper breast, 

 forming a solid spot on the throat; back, wings, breast, flanks, tail, upper 

 and under tail coverts iridescent greenish-black, the feathers of the scapular 

 and interscapular regions edged, and tipped with brown; a scale like row 

 of brown feathers with darker shafts and whitish edges, extending along 

 the wing from wrist to elbow; belly white; feet flesh color; bill horn color; 



