( 75 ) 

 The Frigate Bird. 



Numb. LXXX. 



THE Indians call it fo, becaufe of the Swiftnefs of its Flight; its 

 Body is no bigger than a Pullet %^ but the Stomach is very flefliy ; 

 the Males are as black as Ravens, the Neck long, the Head fmall, with 

 great black Eyes, and the Sight more piercing than the Eagle's; the Bill 

 is thick and intirely black, about feven Inches long; the upper Beak at 

 the end crooked like a Hook; the Toes are fbort, armed with ftrong 

 black Talons, and divided as the Vulture's, the Wings of this Bird are 

 very large and long, reaching beyond the Tail, and not without a 

 provident Delign of Nature, {ince the Wings are fometimes employed 

 to carry him above a hundred Leagues from Land : It is with a great deal 

 of Trouble that he can raife himfelf upon the Branches, becaufe of the 

 extraordinary length of his Wings; but when he has once taken his 

 Flight, he keeps his Wings extended almoft without Motion or Fatigue; 

 if fometimes the Weight of the Rain or Violence of the Winds force 

 him, he mounts above the Clouds beyond Sight, in the middle Region 

 of the Air; and when he is at the higheft he does not forget where he 

 is, but remembers the place where the Dolphin gives chafe to the flying 

 Fi(h, and then he throws himfelf down like Lightning ; not fo as to 

 ftrike upon the Water, for then it would be difficult for him to rife 

 again; but when becomes within twelve or fourteen Paces he makes a 

 large Turn, and lowering himfelf, as it were infenfibly, till he comes to 

 skim the Waters where the Chace is given ; in pafTing he takes up the little 

 Fifh, either with his Bill or Talons. 



He has great red Gills under his Throat, like owrEngliJh Cocks, which 

 do not appear but in the old ones, the Females have none ; they are whiter 

 than the Males, efpecially under the Belly: Thefe Birds for a long time 

 made a iitcle Ifland their Habitation, where all the Birds of that Species 

 thereabouts come to rooft at Nights, and build in their proper S^afon. 

 This little Ifland was called the IJle of Frtgats^ and bears the Name 

 to this Day. 



L 2 The 



