FAMILY CATHARTID^ 



motionless and stationary, high above the water 

 or sometimes over the land, maintaining their 

 position in spite of the movement of the wind, is 

 one of the mysteries of bird flight. Sometimes 

 one may be seen to pursue some slower flying 

 species, as a gull or tern, and they are said to 

 live largely by robbing these of their prey; but 

 few birds seem so little interested in feeding or 

 spend so little time and effort in getting their 

 living, as Frigate Birds. Time seems to be no 

 object to them, and if they are concerned about 

 what is going on below them as they float lazily 

 in the bright sunshine, they seldom show it. The 

 Frigate Bird nests in trees. Colonies of them 

 breed in the winter on islands in Panama Bay. 

 I have seen them nesting on the Fortified Islands, 

 Chame Island, and on Pacheca and Galera in the 

 Pearl Island group. On approaching Chame, a 

 small, high, jungle-covered island, one is amazed 

 to see trees apparently bearing large scarlet 

 blossoms; on closer inspection they prove 'to be 

 the inflated pouches of the males on the nests. 

 On Pacheca we heard the hungry young birds 

 clattering their bills to attract the attention of 

 their inattentive parents. The very young 

 birds are covered with whitish down. 



27. Family CATHARTID^E 



The American Vultures 



Though the Old World vultures differ little 

 in structure from the birds of the hawk family 

 and are ordinarily included in that family, 

 119 



