i'^J- forked • 



cla 



•ader. ^he 



^ «Q the 

 ^^^H. rather 

 '^ one ; the 



e of 



^y 1863 a 

 3mce, and 

 bis unique 

 ion in the 

 1 the mere 

 •excursion ; 



t liappened 

 Eangiwha- 

 ? stealthily 

 m ; but, on 

 her that a 

 short time 

 edition — a 



* « 



nan vision, 



wonderful 



" Hokioi ;" 



^ant belief. 



r to that of 

 the Jager 



-hawk, the 

 obliged to 

 for half a 



Lch I speak 



,ait, which 



a 



nd 



etreat, 

 him now! 



w 



hich be 



i-ked them, 



his 



the 



-q 



across 



owar 



di 



d a Friga^^ 

 oad-winge^ 



,robably be 



341 



* 



^ 





about 8 inches in length. The Frigate Pelican mounted with it across his bill about a hundred 

 yards, and then tossing it up caught it as it fell, but not in the proper manner. He therefore 

 dropped it, but before it had fallen many yards caught it again. Still it was not in a good posi- 

 tion, the weight of the head, it seemed, having prevented the bird from seizing it by that part. 

 A second time the fish was thrown upwards, and now, at last, was received in a convenient 

 manner (that is, with its head downwards), and immediately swallowed." 



It would seem that this species frequents all the seas of the warmer parts of the globe, and 

 especially the Tropics, assembling in large flocks during the breeding-season, and dispersing over 

 the wide ocean again as soon as the parental obligations are discharged. Audubon found them 

 breeding in large numbers in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Florida Keys ; and he has given us 

 the following interesting account, which further illustrates the amazing power of wing already 

 mentioned : 



" About the middle of May (a period which to me appeared very late for birds found in so 

 warm a climate as that of the Florida Keys), the Frigate Pelicans assemble in flocks of from fifty 

 to five hundred pairs or more. They are seen fiying at a great height over the islands on which 

 they have bred many previous seasons, courting for hours together; after which they return 

 towards the mangroves, alight on them, and at once begin to repair the old nests or construct new 

 ones. They pillage each other's nests of their materials, and make excursions for more to the 

 nearest keys. They break the dry twigs of trees with ease, passing swiftly on wing, and snapping 

 them ofi* by a single grasp of their powerful bill. It is indeed a beautiful sight to see them when 

 thus occupied, especially when several are so engaged, passing and repassing with the swiftness of 

 thought over the trees whose tops are blasted ; their purpose appears as if accomplished by magic. 

 It sometimes happens that the bird accidentally drops a stick while travelling towards its nest, 

 when, if this should happen over the water, it plunges after it and seizes it with its bill before it 

 has reached the waves." 



Till a comparatively recent date the only knowledge we possessed of the Frigate bird was that 

 afforded by those who had voyaged in the tropical seas and studied the bird in its distant haunts ; 

 but in the early part of 1871 a pair of live ones, the gift of Captain Dow, were received at the 

 Zoological Society's Gardens; and home naturalists had thus an opportunity of studying this 

 remarkable form in a living state. But when I first looked on these captives, moping gloomily 

 on their perch, with a mere dish of water beneath them, and their noble wings folded up 

 in languid misery, I could not help pitying from my very heart these captives from the ocean, 

 whose fate seemed almost harder than that of the " lord of the plains " on the opposite side of 

 the Gardens, condemned to pass his life within an iron railing only ten feet square! From 

 observing the Frigate bird under such circumstances it is impossible to form any adequate idea 

 of what it is in a state of nature, where its whole individuality depends on its wonderful speed, 

 its long powers of endurance, and the graceful aerial evolutions it is able to perform. Audubon, 

 who was familiar with it in its native element, gave a spirited drawing of it, dashing headlong 

 through the air in pursuit of its quarry. In the 'Field' of September 23, 1871, there is an 

 equally characteristic figure of the same bird as it is to be seen in the Gardens (accompanied by 

 an excellent description) — resting moodily on its feet, with the wings drooping, and the head 

 drawn closely in upon the shoulders. 



t'^ 



