FRIGATE-BIRD 31 



to receive them. The adults travel many miles a day 

 in search of food, leaving the nests early in the morn- 

 ing and sometimes not returning until dusk. Occa- 

 sionally an Eagle will attack the young birds during 

 the parents' absence, but as a rule they are not mo- 

 lested. 



The Brown Pelican does not at any season of the 

 year develop the brilliant colours of beak and pouch 

 displayed by its white relative, nor does the homy 

 excrescence on the bill of the latter ever make its ap- 

 pearance. 



The Frigate, or Man-of-war Bird, is met with 

 throughout the tropical regions of the world, and has 

 even strayed so far north as Nova Scotia. It is a re- 

 markable bird in many ways. Spending the greater 

 part of its life on the wing, it has but little use for 

 legs, and as a consequence has acquired the distinction 

 of having the smallest feet, for its size, of any living 

 bird. Feeding upon squids, small crabs, flying-fish, 

 and young turtles when they come in their way. Frig- 

 ate Birds nevertheless derive no small part of their 

 food by robbing others. Their victims are chiefly 

 Terns and Gannets, which, returning home with full 

 crops, are chased and made to disgorge their captures. 

 Before the coveted morsel has reached the sea again, 

 it is caught up by these unscrupulous highwaymen 

 and promptly swallowed. See Plate 37, Fig. 219. 



During the nesting-season the males develop be- 

 neath the beak a great pouch of a brilliant red colour. 

 This can be inflated, at the will of the bird, until it 

 rivals the rest of the body in size. "A dozen or more 

 of these birds sitting in a tree," says Dr. Andrews, 



