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THE FEIGATE PELICAN - . 
I know only two other birds that perform the same action : one of them is 
the Forked-tail Hawk, the other our swift or Chimney Swallow ; but 
neither of them is so expert as the Frigate Pelican. It sometimes happens 
that this bird accidentally drops a stick while travelling towards its nest, 
when, if this should happen over the water, it plunges after it and seizes it 
with its bill before it has reached the waves. 
The nests are usually placed on the south side of the keys, and on such 
trees as hang over the water, some low, others high, several in a single tree, 
or only one, according to the size of the mangrove, but in some cases lining 
the whole side of the island. They are composed of sticks crossing each 
other to the height of about two inches, and are flattish, but not very large. 
When the birds are incubating* their long wings and tail are seen extending 
beyond the nest for more than a foot. The eggs are two or three, more 
frequently the latter number, measure two inches and seven-eighths in 
.length, two in breadth, being thus of a rather elongated form, and have a 
thick smooth shell, of a greenish-white colour, frequently soiled by the 
filth of the nests. The young are covered with yellowish-white down, and 
look at first as if they had no feet. They are fed by regurgitation, but 
grow tardily, and do not leave the nest until they are able to follow their 
parents on wing. 
At that period the plumage of the young females is marbled with grey 
and brown, with the exception of the head and the lower parts, which are 
white. The tail is about half the length it attains at the first moult, and 
is brownish-black, as are the primaries. After the first change of plumage, 
the wings become longer, and their flight is almost as elegant and firm as 
that of older birds. 
The second spring plumage of this sex is brownish-black on the upper 
parts, that colour extending over the head and around the neck in irregular 
patches of brown, continued in a sharp angle towards the breast, but 
separated on its sides by the white that ascends on either side of the neck 
towards the head. The lower tail-coverts are brownish-black, as are the 
lower parts of the belly and flanks ; the shoulders alone remaining as at 
first. The tail and the wings are perfect. 
The third spring, the upper parts of the head and neck are of a purer 
brownish-black, which extends down to the extremity of the angle, as are 
the feathers of the belly and the lower tail-coverts, the dark colour reaching 
now to within five inches of the angle on the breast. The white of the 
intermediate space has become much purer ; here and there light tints of 
bronze appear ; the feet, which at first were dull yellow, have become of a 
rich reddish-orange, and the bill is pale blue. The bird is now capable of 
