[ioz] BIRDS OF OREGON 



more graceful and rapid than that of its two larger relatives. It builds 

 its nest of seaweed and other vegetable matter on shelves and ledges of 

 the most precipitous rocks and cliffs. There it lays its three to five eggs 

 in early June, and there are hatched its homely, naked, black youngsters, 

 which are soon covered with a peculiar sooty-gray down. The latest 

 definite dates on which eggs have been collected are June 2.8 and 2.9, 1899 

 (Prill 1901). The young remain in the nest for a number of weeks and 

 require constant attention from the parents until they are able to fly. 



This beautiful bird is subjected to the same tireless persecution by 

 fishermen as every other species of cormorant. Two stomachs collected 

 at Netarts were both practically empty. One contained a few bones of a 

 small fish; the other, a few fragments of a crustacean. Stomach examina- 

 tions from other localities show that this species, like other cormorants, 

 feeds on the teeming millions of trash fish that are found in salt waters. 

 It has less tendency to go inland than either of its relatives, and it is 

 entirely unlikely that it can do any real harm to the commercial fishing 

 interests of the coast. 



Man-o'-war-bird: Family Fregatidae 



Man-o'-war-bird: 



Fregata magnificent Matthews 



DESCRIPTION. "Wings very long; tail deeply forked; feet small, half webbed. 

 Adult male: plumage black, base of wings glossed with greenish or purplish. Adult 

 female: plumage dull black, wings with grayish patch; sides and breast white. 

 Young: head, neck, and under parts white; upper parts dull brownish black. Si^e: 

 Length 37.50-41.00, wing 11.00-17.10, tail 14.15-19.2.5, forked for about 9, bill 

 4.15-5.15." (Bailey) Nest: A crude structure of sticks, placed in tops of low bushes 

 or trees. Eggs: i, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds in West Indies, Bahamas, on islands off coast of 

 Venezuela, and on islands along west coast of Mexico. Winters in adjacent seas, 

 ranging north more or less regularly to Florida, Louisiana, and northern California. 

 In Oregon: Rare straggler. Only one record. 



THE ONLY Oregon record of the Man-o'-war-bird is of one that appeared 

 at Tillamook Rock Light, which is located on a tiny rock just off the 

 coast of Clatsop county. This bird was first noticed soaring over the rock 

 on the morning of February 1 8, 1935. It swung slowly from side to side 

 until sundown, when after several attempts to find a roosting place it 

 settled on a small iron tripod. During the night it moved, and the keeper 

 on watch noticed it perched on a cable. In the morning it was found dead. 

 Realizing that it was a stranger, Mr. Hugo Hansen skinned it out and 

 later presented the bird to Jewett. It was not sexed. 



