1204 FEEGATA MINOE. 



Young in down (Eaine Island). White, the down thick and long ; the interscapular)? region and scapulars, which 

 are in feather, blackish brown, with pale margins ; bill to gape 2-85 inches. 



Immature. "Iris black; bill and feet whitish, with a shade of blue." (J. Murray.) 



Head, neck, and chest whitish, washed with cinnamon-reddish, passing into brownish on the breast ; abdomen white ; 

 back brownish ; wing-coverts brown, margined with greyish. 



FEEGATA AQUILA. 



(THE FRIGATE-BIRD.) 



Peleeanus aquilus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 216 (1766). 



Fregata aquila (L.), Uliger, Prodr. p. 279 (1811) ; Buller, B. of New Zeal. p. 339 (1873) ; Salvadori, Uccelli di Born. 



p. 364 (1874) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1879, p. 116 (List B. of Ind.). 

 Attagen aquilus (Linn.), Gould, B. of Austr. vii. pi. 71 (1848); Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 853 (1864). 

 Man-of-War Bird; Frigate. Pelican. 



Adult male and female (Mus. Salvin and Godman). Wing 24*5 to 26-5 inches ; tail 17"5 to 18-5, depth of fork 1O0 

 to 11-5 ; tarsus 0-8 ; middle toe 2-0 to 2-2, claw (straight) 0-8 to 09 ; bill to gape (straight) 5-3 to 5-7 ; gular 

 pouch extending to 4| inches from the edge of the feathers at sides of lower mandible. The smaller measurements 

 relate to females. 



Iris red ; bill pale bluish, nail flesh-colour ; feet fleshy reddish ; gular pouch in the male scarlet. 



Adult. Above black, the feathers of the head long and attenuated, those of the hind neck and the uppermost scapular 

 of lanceolate shape, the former glossed with green and the latter with metallic bronze and purple ; the wing- 

 coverts likewise with green reflections, and the quills glossed ; the lower back and upper tail-coverts with brownish- 

 green reflections ; beneath brownish black, glossed on the chest and flanks. 



Nestling (British Honduras ; May). Covered with white down everywhere but on the interseapulary region and 

 scapulars, which are feathered and black, with the tips of the plumes paler; primaries, which are just appearing, 

 black ; feet yellowish. 



Immature (same locality ; May), presumably one year old. Head, nape, throat, chest, and centre of breast white ; 

 back and scapulars black, with a slight green reflection, and the edges of the feathers somewhat pale ; lesser wing- 

 coverts pale brown, with greyish margins ; the median series darker, the greater coverts, primaries, and secondaries 

 glossy black ; tail black ; flanks and axillaries brown ; under wing black-brown ; pouch not bare below the gape. 



Older bird (May), presumably two years old. Head black, the feathers attenuated and glossed with green ; throat 

 and face brown- black ; chest and the sides of the breast white, extending almost on to the hiud neck ; back and 

 scapulars black, more glossy than in the above, and the feathers more lengthened ; wing-coverts as in the last. 



06s. In this stage, Mr. Godman informs me, they breed. 



Distribution. — I include this species doubtfully in our avifauna, as it is possible that some of the specimens seen 

 From time to time on the west coast of Ceylon may have belonged to it. 



It is said occasionally to visit the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, but rarely strays, writes Sundevall, further 

 north than 10° N. lat. Jerdon includes it in the avifauna of India on the strength of one specimen which was shot on 

 the Malabar coast off Mangalore ; but I find no recent record of its occurrence in Indian waters. In the Indian Ocean 

 I have seen what I take to be it between Galle and the Cocos Islands, at which latter locality it is not uncommon. It 

 i< found at the Seychelles, Mauritius, Eodriguez, and Madagascar, and to the east occurs throughout the Malay 

 archipelago, being recorded from Sumatra, Java, the Moluccas (Batchian), Halmahera, and New Guinea. In Torres 

 Mraits it is not uncommon, occurring all along the north coast of Australia to Cape York, and extending thence 

 eastwards to New Caledonia, Samoa, Society Islands, Palmerston Islands, Marshall Islands, the Phcenix group, and the 



