NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



to watch and weigh every object that appears. I have been 

 much interested in a constant attendant on the ship in our 

 offshore cruisings the man-of-war hawk, or frigate-bird. 

 This beautiful creature is one of the common but most re- 

 markable birds which frequent the tropical seas, at points 

 most distant from the land. Its plumage is of the densest 

 black, relieved by a bright red patch of naked skin on the 

 side of the neck. Its length is about thirty inches, with a 

 spread of wing about six feet. It has a strong hooked beak, 

 much longer than the eagle's, and its feet are devoid of the 

 usual web of water-fowls. We never observed it alight or 

 dive in the sea. It frequents desolate shores and islands 

 during the breeding season, but during a great part of the 

 year we believe it is constantly on the wing. I may remark 

 of this inhabitant of the air, that no other bird offers such 

 favorable opportunity for close study of their habit of flight. 

 In the many hours which the bird and I have spent, one swing- 

 ing and the other soaring a hundred and fifty feet in the air, 

 diverse and strange questions were suggested. The flight of 

 my feathered attendant is exceedingly easy and graceful ; at 

 times it may be seen balanced in mid-air, its head alone be- 

 traying life by its motion ; again, with outstretched wings, 

 soaring kite-like over and around the mast-head, approach- 

 ing and receding, sometimes just outside of the arm's reach. 

 It is fearless and will sweep in graceful circles, without the 

 apparent motion of a feather. At such' moments it is evi- 

 dent, however, that there is a vibration of the quills, as a dis- 

 tinct rustling whisper is heard, as of the folds of silk in a 

 lady's dress. It has been observed that its bones, in common 

 with other long-flighted sea-fowl, are large in diameter, thin 

 and light in structure, as compared with the bones of land- 

 birds, and are hollow, instead of being filled with marrow 

 simply cylindrical air-chambers, in fact light in weight, 

 but strong. 



