THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
These figures indicate that, granted that these might be young females, 
the subspecies would be larger than the preceding ; if they were males it 
would be very much larger. 
Consequently, when this subspecies be determined, it will bear the 
name 
Fregata minor palmerstoni (Gmelin) 
Palmerston Island, Mid-Pacific ; 
while Montrouzier’s name chamheyroni must be cited as a synonym until 
series from Huon and Surprise Islands are collected and compared. I do 
not anticipate that the Laysan bird will be inseparable, though we have no 
data to decide such a question. I much prefer to accept for that subspecies 
the name 
Fregata minor strumosa (Hartert) 
Sandwich Islands. 
I have given full details of the plumage-changes of this subspecies and 
also measurements previously. These show that the measurements differ 
appreciably from all others taken : the only race with which it might be 
confused is the preceding, which cannot be determined accurately. It might be 
here remarked that Cassinis observations with regard to the differences between 
Tachypetes aquila of the Atlantic and Tachypetes palmerstoni of the Pacific 
are absolutely confirmed when this Laysan series is contrasted with West 
Indian birds : the tail-feathers are noticeably narrower in the Pacific bird 
and the latter are also smaller. I use strumosa of Hartert, as in the Ratal. 
Vogels Mus. Senckenh., p. 235, 1891, that worker catalogued the type of 
strumosa Kittlitz, and then in a footnote referred to literature where Kittlitz 
had described in detail and figured the specimen, observing that so far as 
he knew the name strumosa had not previously been published. According 
to the Laws now in force, such introduction, though probably not intended as 
such, compels acceptance of the name. 
We have now arrived back at the birds we commenced with — ^the 
Galapagos forms. It cannot now be denied that two distinct subspecies 
breed on that Archipelago, a larger and a smaller, the former breeding on the 
southern islands and the latter on the northern rocks only, Culpepper and 
Wenman Island. Stragglers may be met with in the islands where they do 
not breed, but the subspecies are so different that such can be differentiated 
at once, both by size and coloration. It must be obvious now that they 
cannot bear the names selected by Ridgway, viz. Fregata aquila and Fregata 
aquila minor, and as no names have yet been given to any Galapagos birds. 
268 
