The Pacific Man-o '-war-bird 



and eggs are more "persnickety." With their objections patiently sub- 

 dued, we pass the cliffs and find, on the south talus slope below, another 

 colony, some 200 pairs, of nesting pelicans. These must be the pioneers 

 of the island, for only here do we find young birds. And it is natural 

 enough, when you think of it, that the first comers should choose the 

 south slopes, sunny and well-sheltered, though how they can abide 

 this incredible cactus — vicious and ubiquitous — passes comprehension. 



Small colonies of these birds flourish (or languish) on Los Coronados 

 Islands, just below our border. Of these Mr. Howell says: 1 "As the 

 pelicans suffer much from the depredations of the gulls, fresh eggs from 

 second layings may be found well into July. The young leave the nest 

 when less than half the size of the parents, and it is quite ludicrous 

 to watch the compact flocks of fluffy, solemn youngsters parading se- 

 dately about the rookeries. When the primaries are quite well grown, 

 they frequently hop off a shelf of rock into one of the many patches 

 of cactus, and it is not unusual to encounter one literally bristling with 

 spines. When able to fly, but before ever having tried to do so, they will 

 sometimes take to the air at the approach of danger, and go careening 

 out to sea on unsteady wings, then manage to turn, and come shooting 

 back on the wind. They are unversed in the art of alighting, however, 

 and sometimes hit the cliff full speed, which is the signal for every gull 

 in sight to sail happily down to investigate the dying bird. When camped 

 near the colonies, one may see a line or wedge of these great birds go 

 silently by at any hour of the night, undoubtedly belated homecomers 

 from some far fishing ground." 



No. 400 



Pacific Man-o'-war-bird 



A. O. U. No. 128. Fregata minor palmerstoni (Gmelin). 



Synonyms. — Frigate-bird. PaLiMErston's Man-o'-war-bird. 



Description. — Adult male: General color black, with greenish or purplish 

 gloss above; duller, sooty, below; tail of 12 feathers. Iris brown; bill light purplish 

 blue in life, lightening in the middle, darker on tips; gular pouch, capable of enormous 

 distension during breeding season, scarlet; bare space about eye purplish blue; feet 

 carmine above, orange below. Adult female: Somewhat similar to male, but under- 

 pays chiefly pure white; lesser and median wing-coverts, and hind-neck brown; "bill 

 bluish horn-color; orbits and gular skin dark plumbeous with a tinge of violet." Imma- 

 ture birds resemble adult female, but have entire head and neck white, with upper 



1 " Birds of the Islands off the Coast of Southern California," Pac. Coast Avifauna, No. 12, by Alfred Brazier 

 Howell, 1917, p. 41. 



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