58 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



FAMILY FREGATnXE. 



Genus FREGATA. 



Fregata Lacepede, Tabl. Ois., p. 15, Dec. 1799. Species added by Daudin, in Hist. Nat 



(Buffon), ed. Didot, Quadr., Vol. XIV., p. 317 [1799 =] Oct. 1802. Type (by monotypy) r 



Pelecanus aquilus = P. minor Gmelin. 



Tachypetes Vieillot, Analyse nouv. Ornith., p. 63, April 14th, 1816. Type (by monotypy) : 



"Fregate Buff." = Pelecanus minor Gmelin. 



Aquilus Bronn, Zur angewandten Naturg. u. Phys., p. 159, 1824. Nomen nudum, based on 



" Fregatt-vogel." 



Atagen Gray, List Genera Birds, 2nd ed., p. 101, Sept. 1841. Type (by original designation) : 



"A. aquilla (L.) G. R. Gray " = P. minor Gmelin. 



Not^ttagrenKaup, Skizz. Entwick.-Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 170, (pref. April) 1829. 



Parvifregata Mathews, Birds Austr., Suppl. No. 1, Check List, p. 64, Feb. 16th, 1920. Type 



(by original designation) : Atagen ariel Gray. 



Large birds with long hooked bills, very long wings, very long forked tails, 

 slender bodies, and very small legs and feet, the toes semipalmate, but the hind-toe 

 connected with a web. The bill is very long, much longer than the head ; it is 

 very strongly hooked, both mandible tips being downward bent ; the upper mandible 

 is composed of separate pieces recalling that of a Procellarian bird ; the culmini- 

 corn is broad and flattened, a groove extending its length separating it from the 

 laterals, which are also broad and flattened ; the edges of the mandible are complete, 

 no serration being present. The rami of the lower mandible are straight and deep 

 and enclose an unfeathered tract which develops in the male into a huge gular 

 pouch. The length of the chord of the culmen is about twice the length of the midde 

 toe. The nostrils are linear slits placed near the base of the culmen. The wings are 

 very long and pointed, the first primary much the longest. The tail is very long 

 and very deeply forked ; it is more than half the length of the wing. The metatarsus 

 is very short and feathered. The toes are comparatively long and thin, and are 

 totipalmate, but the webs are so deeply inciged that semipalmate would better 

 describe them ; the toes are obscurely scutellate, the middle toe about twice the 

 length of the metatarsus and half the length of the chord of the culmen ; the hind-toe 

 is long, not much shorter than the inner, the middle toe being longest, the outer 

 longer than the inner ; the claw of the middle toe is very long and serrated. 



44. Fregata minor. FRIGATE BIRD. 



[Pelecanus minor Gmelin, Syst. Nat., Vol. I., pt. n., p. 572, April 20th, 1789 : [West Indian 

 Seas =] Jamaica. Extra-limital.] 



Mathews, Vol. IV., pt. 3, pi. 229, June 23rd, 1915. 



Fregata minor listeri Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., pt. 6, p. 119, Dec. 19th, 1914: 

 Christmas Island, Indian Ocean. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia (visitor). One specimen preserved in Perth Museum, West 

 Australia. Cf. Alexander, Emu, Vol. XVII., pt. iv., p. 238, April 1st, 1918. Probably 

 common in North Queensland. 



Adult male. General coloration throughout black ; a brownish tinge observed 

 on the under parts ; the feathers of the head long and narrow and showing a dull 

 blue-green sheen ; the feathers of the back lanceolate and elongate, showing a shiny 

 oil-green gloss ; the primaries and rectrices are tinged with a bluish blocm ; inner- 

 most secondaries brownish ; the median wing-coverts dark brown ; bill slaty -grey ; 

 feet pale flesh ; eyelids bright pink. Culmen 96 mm., wing 558, tail 365, middle 

 toe 50. 



Two birds in the British Museum supposed to have been procured in Queensland 

 agree fairly well and measure 



Culmen 100 Wing 550 Tail 420 Middle toe 55 mm. 



105 565 370 50 



