GREATER FRIGATE BIRD. 
The measurements are of adult 
black males : 
Culmen. Wing. 
Tail. 
Middle toe. 
Off Point Gourde 
107 
635 
415 + 
55 
Do. 
110 
620 
410 
55 
Barbuda Island, West Indies . . 
104 
647 
430 
50 
Do. do. 
102 
603 + 
435 
52 
Marco Island 
103 
630 
390 
48 
Antigua 
102 
610 + 
445 
48 
Las Penas, Mexico 
111 
620 
325 + 
51 
Aruba 
no 
592 + 
410 
53 
Females are much scarcer, and only 
three adults are 
available for 
measurement : 
Culmen. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Middle toe. 
Las Penas, Mexico 
114 
650 
433 
53 + 
Aruba 
120 
635 
+ 
56 
Do. .. .. .. .. 
118 
595 + 
360 + 
56 
Though this may not be a homogeneous 
series, a 
valuable 
item may be 
observed from it, viz., the bill in the males never exceeds 112 mm., while 
the females, though only three, all exceed that measurement. All the males, 
save the Aruba one, which may not have completed its moult, exceed 600 mm. 
in wing length, one reaching 647 mm. ; while of the two females which 
give wing measurements, one reaches 650 mm., the other 635 : the latter, 
however, may not have completed its moult. 
Thus the South Trinidad birds show absolutely a longer culmen and a 
shorter wing length. In the British Museum quite a number of birds have 
been got together from the West Indian Islands and the Caribbean Sea, 
but no series whatever from any given locality has yet been collected. A 
male and female procured together has been considered quite sufficient for 
every purpose. Adult specimens are available from Jamaica, Belsize coast, 
Honduras, Florida, Trinidad, Little Cayman Island, Antigua and St. Vincent 
Islands. The measurements obtained from these absolutely confirm those 
recorded above, the bills of the males measuring from 103 to 112 mm., 
the bills of three adult females giving from 116 to 122 mm.; the wings 
of the males range from 601 to 620, while that of the females go from 
625-642 mm. 
As previously noted, it may be that when breeding series are procured 
more than one race will be distinguished in these localities, but for the 
present these can be regarded as representing one form and typify the 
Gmelinian minor, the diagnostic features of which would be the culmen 
length in conjunction with the length of the wing. 
263 
