FRIGATE PELICAN, CORVORANT. 91 



THE FRIGATE PELICAN, 



Has a body of the size of that of the fowl, while its 

 extending wings measure fourteen feet. The bill is dusky ; 

 the head, pouch, and legs, red ; the pouch very bright ; 

 the plumage is browning black, except the wing-coverts, 

 which have a yellowish tinge ; the tail is long, and much 

 forked. The female wants the pouch, and is white 

 beneath. The Frigate Bird is seldom seen but on the 

 wing, and is never known to sit on the surface of the 

 water, like other marine birds ; it perches sometimes on the 

 top-mast of large vessels, and frequently is seen hovering 

 round them. The power of its extensive wings must be 

 very great: it is seen more than two hundred leagues from 

 land, and often rises out of sight. It dives for its prey 

 from a great height, and remounts as rapidly as it descends : 

 it will attack gulls and other birds, with fish in their 

 bills, and forcing them to quit their hold, seize the prey as 

 it falls to the water. The Frigate Bird is a great enemy 

 to the flying-fish, which it catches as it rises from the 

 water. It is found almost exclusively within the tropics ; 

 it builds on trees near the coast, or on rocks ; it lays one 

 or two eggs, flesh coloured, marked with crimson. 



THE CORVORANT, OR CORMORANT, 



Is about the size of a goose, but more slender. The bill 

 is dusky ; the pouch small, and yellowish green; the top of 

 the head and part of the neck are black, with perpendicular 

 lines of white ; the throat is white ; the lower parts 

 greenish black, with a patch of white on the thighs ; the 

 back, scapulars, and wing-covers brownish, glossed with 

 green and purple; the quills and tails dusky black. The 

 Corvorant is found in most parts of the world ; and is 

 very voracious, and feeds on fish. In China, the Corvo- 

 rant is trained to catch fish : a ring placed round its neck 

 prevents its swallowing, and obliges it to give up its prey 

 to its master. It is said that Corvorants were formerly 

 applied to the same purpose in England. The Corvorant 

 builds on the top of crags; its eggs are three or more in 

 in number, of a pale green colour, and so foetid, that even 



