Order PELECANIF0RME8 Family FEEGATIDM. 
No. 284. 
FREGATA MINOR LISTERI. 
GREATER FRIGATE BIRD. 
(Plate 229.)* 
Eregata minor LISTERI Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., p. 119, 1915; Christmas 
Island. 
Attagen aquila (?) Gould, Introd. Birds Austr., 8vo., p. 119, 1848; id., Birds Austr., 
Vol. I., Introd., p. c, 1848. 
Tachypetes aquila Gould, Handb. Birds Austr., Vol. II., p. 499, 1865; Masters, Proc. 
Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. I., p. 64, 1876. 
Atagen aquilus Ramsay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. II., p. 203, 1878 ; id., Tab. List 
Austr. Birds, p. 25, 1888. 
Fregata aquila Ogilvie-Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., Vol. XXVI., p. 443, 1898 (part) ; 
Hall, Key Birds Austr., p. 103, 1899 ; Campbell, Nests and Eggs Austr. Birds, 
Vol. II., p. 989, 1901 ; Vivian, Emu, Vol. IV., p. 55, 1904 ; Hall, Key Birds 
Austr., 2nd ed., p. 103, 1906; Mathews, Handl. Birds Austral., p. 38, 1908; 
Barnard, Emu, Vol. XI., p. 20, 1911 (?). 
Fregata aquila palmerstoni (not Gmelin) Mathews, Nov. ZooL, Vol. XVIII., p. 242, 1912 ; 
id.. List Birds Austr., p. 100, 1913. 
Fregata minor listeri Mathews, Austral Av. Rec., Vol. II., p. 119, 1915 (Christmas Island). 
Range. Northern Australia (accidental) ; Victoria (one record, Campbell) ; Christmas 
Island (breeding). 
Adult male. General coloration throughout black ; a brownish tinge observed on the 
under-parts ; the feathers of the head long and narrow and showing a dull blue- 
green sheen ; the feathers of the back lanceolate and elongate, showing a shiny 
oil green gloss ; the primaries and rectrices are tinged with a bluish bloom ; inner- 
most secondaries brownish ; the median wing-coverts dark brown. Coloration 
of iris, bill, and feet unrecorded. Culmen 96 mm., wing 558, tail 365, middle toe 50. 
(Type of F. m. listeri collected at Christmas Island by Dr. C. W. Andrews, F.R.S., 
and now in my collection.) 
Two birds in the British Museum supposed to have been procured in Queensland 
agree fairly well and measure — 
Culmen 100 Wing 550 Tail 420 Middle toe 55 mm. 
„ 105 „ 565 „ 370 „ 50 
* Tha Plate is lettered Fregata palmerstoni. 
240 
