Entirely Predatory 405 



become well acquainted with the bird, I was the more 

 eager to substantiate my first observations, and by 

 enquiiy among seamen, to get reliable information 

 from others. 



First of all, as to the oceanic range of the Frigate 

 Bird. Three natural history books lie before me, 

 all ostensibly based upon authentic information. 

 One speaks of the Frigate Bird soaring over hundreds 

 of leagues of ocean, another of its being seen four 

 hundred leagues from land, and the third, of its calmly 

 resting on the wing one hundred leagues from land. 

 I have never seen a Frigate Bird more than fifty 

 miles from shore, nor ever heard of one being seen one 

 hundred miles from land. The latter, I am sure, 

 is about their limit, and for the best of all reasons. 



The Frigate Bird is essentially a pirate, a robber, 

 who preys upon the earnings of honest birds. I do 

 not mean to say that he cannot fish at all for himself, 

 because I have seen him swoop down upon a flying-fish 

 in the air as a hawk does upon a small bird and carry 

 it off exultantly. But long, close watching has 

 convinced me that alone among all the sea-birds, the 

 Frigate Bird is unable to catch a fish under water 

 or feed upon the water. That they can swim, their 

 webbed feet will prove, although the webs are quite 

 rudimentary ; but I never saw one swimming, nor 

 saw one so much as touch the water. 



And in this there is to my mind something very 

 mysterious and wonderful. It seems to me that 

 these birds are really to the sea what hawks are to 

 the land, and this supposition is supported by the 

 testimony of a gentleman who has studied them 

 very closely, Mr. Palmer, the gentleman who made 

 the Hon. Walter Rothschild's wonderful collection 

 of sea-birds and their eggs. He records that at 



