GREATER FRIGATE BIRD. 
the Pacific and Madagascar.* The females have much larger bills than the 
males. My specimens measure : — 
(J ad. Aruba 3 vii. Culmen 5.2 inches wing 23.6 tail 17. 
$?ad. do. „ 5.5-5.6 „ „ 23-24.5 „ 15.5. 
“ * Hartlaub { Vogel. Madagascars, p. 399) mentions only Fregata minor 
from that island, but examples of both these very distinct species have been 
recently received by the Tring Museum from Madagascar.” 
Apparently Ogilvie-Grant independently worked out the differences 
between Fregata aquila and Fregata ariel, as he does not mention that 
Ridgway had published the facts previously and does not give a reference 
to Ridgway’s paper in his synonymy. For three years before the Catalogue of 
the Birds in the British Museum was published, Ridgway {Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 
Vol. XVIII., p. 525, 1895) had written : “ Fregata aquila minor (Gmelin) ?. 
Since no specimens were collectedi, and as Dr. Abbott did not distinguish 
between the two species, it is uncertain whether the Frigate birds observed 
at Glorioso were this form or F. ariel Gould.” 
On p. 516 he admitted : “ Fregata ariel Gould, one specimen, lie 
St. Joseph (Amirantes). 
“ The name ariel Gould having been quite generally cited as a synonym of 
minor Gmelin, it is proper that I state here my reasons for reinstating it as 
a specific name. A reference to Gmelin’ s diagnoses and the descriptions and 
figures upon which it is based proves beyond question that the name minor 
belongs to the small intertropical form of F. aquila. The bird under 
consideration is unquestionably a distinct species from F. aquila, being readily 
distinguished from the small form to which the name minor belongs by 
several very positive characters, involving not only differences of coloration 
but of form and dimensions also. ... 
“The characters of F. ariel are as follows: ‘Much smaller than F. aquila 
minor with very much shorter and slenderer bill and smaller feet. Adult 
male with a transverse patch of white on each flank.’ ” ^ 
These characters are drawn up from details of Gould’s types supplied 
to Ridgway by Witmer Stone, which are given. 
The Amirantes specimen measured, according to Ridgway : “ Wing 20, 
tail 13, culmen 3.30, middle toe 1.80 inches,” 
Also, in 1897, Ridgway, dealing with the Birds of the Galapagos 
Archipelago, reported in the Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., Vol. XIX., thus : 
“ p. 590. Fregata aquila Linnaeus. 
“ Range : Intertropical and subtropical seas in general : Galapagos 
Archipelago. No special locality (Darwin, Kinberg) ; Chatham, Barrington, 
Tower and Bindloe Islands (Baur and Adams). 
VOL. IV. 
249 
