VOl i90^ VI ] Recent Literature. 205 



counted that contained eggs, besides many others partly built. This 

 island was formerly — two or three years before — the favorite nesting 

 resort of the pelicans, but at this time only three nests of this species 

 were seen there, the colony having moved to Echo Island. — J. A. A. 



Chapman on the Life -Histories of the Booby and Man o'-War Bird. 1 — 

 The observations here recorded were made during April, 1907, at Cay 

 Verde, in the Bahamas, while on a collecting trip to obtain specimens, 

 accessories, photographs, and other data for a ' Habitat Group ' of these 

 birds in the American Museum of Natural History. Although only three 

 days and nights were spent at the key, the visit was successful, and forms 

 the basis of the present report on the bird life of Cay Verde. No land 

 birds appear to be resident on the key, but it is visited by a number of 

 migrants, of which nine species were noted, in addition to the same num- 

 ber of water birds. The presence of these birds, says Mr. Chapman, 

 "indicates that Cay Verde would be an admirable station for the study of 

 the migration of birds throughout this region. The small size of the Cay 

 [half a mile long and a fourth of a mile wide] would permit the taking of 

 fairly accurate daily censuses, while the distance from the nearest land 

 makes it the only available stopping-place in a large area. It is to this 

 isolation that the presence of large numbers of breeding birds on the cay 

 may be attributed." The birds accustomed to nest there are three species 

 of tern, the Tropic-Bird, and the two species that form the subject of the 

 present paper. The number of Boobies (Sula leucogastra) breeding on the 

 cay was estimated to be about 1500 pairs, with between 200 and 300 pairs 

 of Man-o'-War Birds. At this time most of the nests contained young, 

 ranging in age from newly hatched to half grown, while some nests still 

 contained eggs and some of the young birds were already on the wing. 



A detailed account of the habits, nest, eggs and young is given for 

 each species, and also of the development of the plumage in the young 

 birds. Incidentally some errors made by Audubon in his account of these 

 species are noted. It is shown beyond reasonable doubt that the Booby 

 found by Audubon nesting on his "Noddy Island" (Bird Key, Tortugas 

 Islands) and supposed by him to be "Sula fusca" (S. leucogastra) was 

 really S. -piscator. The correction of this error gives Sula piscator for 

 the first time the status of a former breeding bird in the United States, 

 where it is now only of accidental occurrence. On the other hand, 

 Audubon's record of the breeding of the Man-o'-War Bird in the Florida 

 Keys is discredited. The six plates, based on photographs, illustrate the 

 nesting habits, manner of flight, and development of the plumage in both 

 species. — J. A. A. 



1 A Contribution to the Life-Histories of the Booby (Sula leucogastra) and Man-o'- 

 War Bird (Fregata aquila). By Frank M. Chapman. Papers from the Tortugas 

 Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Vol. II, 1908 (1909), pp. 

 139-151, pll. i-vi. [Separates not dated, but distributed late in February, 1909.] 



