BIRDS — TACHYPETIDAE — TACHYPETES AQUILUS. 873 
Family TACHYPETIDAE. 
Ch. — Bill very long, strong, hooked at the end, and acute; the culmen depressed and concave ; nostrils basal, placed in the 
lateral grooves, and scarcely observable ; wings exceedingly lengthened ; tail long and much forked ; tarsi very short ; toes long, 
with the connecting webs deeply indented ; throat bare, and capable of being much distended. 
This family embraces but one genus. 
TACHYPETES, Vieillot. 
Tachypeles, Vieii.l. Analyse, 1816. 
Ch. — Bill long, broad at the base, the culman concave, the unguis much hooked and very acute, the sides grooved and com- 
pressed ; nostrils basal, linear, and hardly visible ; wings very long and pointed, first two primaries longest ; tail lengthened aud 
deeply forked; tarsi very short, strong, compressed, and feathered for half their length; toes long and all united by webs ; 
claws curved and rather small, gular sac extending nearly to the end of the lower mandible, aud admitting of considerable 
expansion. 
The tropical regions are the principal resort of this genus : they assemble in large numbers 
in the breeding season, placing their nests on trees, rocks, or on the ground ; they wander to 
very great distances from land, their power of wing being almost unequalled ; they contend 
against the severest gales apparently without effort. 
TACHYPETES AQUILUS, Vieillot. 
Frigate Pelican; Man-of-war Bird. 
Tachypeles aquilus, Vieiix Gal. des Ois. 1835 tab. 274.— Bon. Syn. 1838, No. 358.— Ib. Cons. Av. II, 1855, 166.— 
Pelecanus aquilus, Linn. Syst. Nat. 1766, 216. 
Nutt. Man. II, 1834, 491— Aud. Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 495 : V, 1839, 634.-Ib. Syn. 1839, 
307.— Ib. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 10 ; pi. ccccxxi.— Gamb. Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil. 2d Ser. I, 
1849, 227. 
Altagen aquila, Gray, Gen. of Birds, 1845. 
Sp. Ch. — Plumage brownish black ; bill long, with the unguis much curved ; wings much lengthened, tail long and forked. 
Mult. Entire plumage brownish black, with changeable reflections of green and purple ; primaries black ; outer secondaries 
black on their outer webs, and amber brown on their inner, of which color are the inner secondaries ; tail dark brown, with the 
shafts white on the under side ; bill pale purplish blue, white in the middle, with the tips dusky ; inside of mouth carmine ; 
bare loral space purplish blue ; iris dark brown ; gular sac orange ; feet reddish above, orange underneath. 
Total length, 41 inches ; wing, 25 ; bill, 5.50 ; tarsi, .80 ; tail, 18. 
The female differs in having the sides of the neck and a broad space on the breast white, the feathers of the back not so 
lustrous as those of the male, and the wings and tail more tinged with brown. 
Hab. — Texas to Florida ; California. 
The Florida keys are the principal resort of this species on our coast ; here they congregate 
in large numbers at their breeding stations, several nests being frequently placed upon one 
tree. As might be supposed from their great depth of wing, they possess great power of 
flight, not being excelled by any other bird. They are tyrannical in their habits, harassing 
the terns and smaller gulls, robbing them of their food, causing them to drop or disgorge it, 
which they descend after with great rapidity, and recover it before it reaches the water ; they 
also prey upon flying fish, and pick up floating substances in the manner of gulls ; the young 
Sept. 20. 1858. 
110 b 
