GREATER FRIGATE BIRD. 
simply to the fully-plumaged male of the large bird, the white flanks 
distinctive of the small species being unnoticed. There are no other 
synonyms, but the views of previous workers need record so that my 
comments later can be easily understood. 
As long ago as 1831, Lesson, from personal observation, included in his 
TraitCf pp. 606-7 : 
“ La Fregate. Tachypetes aquila Vieill. Gal., pi. 274. 
PeUcanus aquilus L. Enl. 961. 
Male. Plumage noir : devant de la gorge nu et d’un rouge fulgide. 
Des Moluques, du Bresil, de toutes les terres intertropicales. Femelle 
{Pelecanus leucocephalos L.). Tete, cou et ventre blancs. De Rio- Janeiro, 
de I’Ascension. 
Jeune male {Pelecanus palmerstonii Lath.) ? Tete et cou noirs : ventre 
blanc. 
Jeune femelle {Pelecamus minor Lath). Tete et cou roux vif : duvet 
epais et abundant : corps noir. De Timor, des lies Mariannes. 
Ohserv. On ne pent guere, dans le moment actuel, admettre qu’une 
espece de fregate, qui varie suivant les sexes et I’age, parce que les moyens 
de comparison manquent dans les Musees. Cependant nous avons recontre 
dans les iles Carolines une petit fregate toute noire, de taille moitie moindre 
que celle de I’espece des cotes du Bresil.” 
From this extract I deduce that ‘‘ Fregata caroliniana Less.” would 
have been conferred upon this small species, and therefore would not be a 
synonym of A. aquilus, as cited by Gray. 
In the Birds of the U.S. Expl. Exped. 1858, Cassin admitted two species, 
writing : 
p. 358. “ T achy petes aquila Linne. Though no specimen of this species 
is in the collection, it is frequently mentioned by the naturalists attached 
to the Expedition. This species is that which is found on the shores of the 
Atlantic Ocean, from the coasts of the Southern United States and of the 
West Indies, thence throughout the entire extent of South America to Cape 
Horn. Its further range is yet undetermined, the species which is the 
subject of our next article having universally but erroneously been regarded 
as identical with the present bird by modern ornithologists and voyagers. 
The bird now before us is the largest of the species of this genus, and may 
readily be distinguished from others by this character, though in general 
form and in colors there is almost complete similarity. In this bird the 
primary-quills and feathers of the tail are remarkably wide, and the shafts 
strong. 
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