FRIGATE. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
Pelicanus Aquilus. P. cauda forficata, corpore nigro, rostra 
rubra, orbitis nigris. Linn. Syst. Nat. 
Gmel. 1. p. 572. 
Tail forked 5 body black ; bill red 3 orbits 
of the eyes black. 
Alcyon major pulla, cauda longiore bifurca. 
Brown Jam. p. 483. 
Frigate Buff. Birds, 8. p. 346. pi. 222. Alb. 
Av. 3. tab. 80. Lath. Syn. 3. pi. 587. 
This bird derives its name from the steadiness and 
rapidity with which it cleaves the air. It is seen 
at a great distance from land ; Labat says, at three 
or four hundred leagues ; and these immense ex- 
cursions are performed hy a single flight, conse- 
quently its strength must be prodigious. The 
frigate, who is very active, obliges another bird, 
called the booby, to be his caterer, who, in spite 
of himself, is forced to give up his prey. Dampier 
gives a curious account of the hostility between the 
frigates, or man-of-war birds as he calls them, and 
the boobies. He remarked that both species placed 
sentinels over their young especially when they 
