THURSDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1893 
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A S ! OHM-BLOWN WANDERER. 
Fine Specimen of a Young Frigate-Bird 
Secured Near the Water Works in 
New Bedford. 
A fine specimen of a young frigate-bird was 
shot on Tuesday at New Bedford. It had prob- 
ably been blown northward by the West Indian 
hurricane which swept up the coast last Friday, 
and had taken refuge in a tree bythe pond near 
the water works. Although its kind are abnn 
daut in the South from Florida to Texas, and 
in California, they are seldom found farther 
north than Charleston, S.C. ; and it is therefore 
a rare occurrence to secure a specimen in this 
latitude. One was shot some time ago at Ma- 
chias, on the coast of Maine, but it is not known 
that any besides that one and the young bird 
just secured lias been even seeu in this part of 
the country. 
The New Bedford bird, being still quite 
young, weighs only one and three-quarters 
poundf, while its wings measure 7 Vi feet from 
tip to tip. These facts give one some idea of 
its wonderful powers of flight. It is thirty-five 
inches in length from the end of the bill to the 
tip of the forked tail. The bill, which is very 
sharp along the upper edges and hooked at the 
end, is longer than the head ; the neck is short 
and comparatively stout; the body is slender 
and covered with compact plumage, the wings 
are pointed and the first two quills are the 
longest; the tail is deeply forked;the toes are 
Jong and united by a web so deeply indented 
that at first glance they do not appear to 
ha webbed at all; the claws are 3 mall and 
curved. At the base of the under side of the 
bill there is a small grayish-white pouch. The 
| color oi the plumage in this specimen is simi- 
lar to that of the ordinary eagle, the back and 
the upper side of the wings being mottled gray 
j brown, the breast and under part of 
the neck being pure white, and the rest of the 
body, as well as the wing and tail feathers, be- 
ing a rusty chocolate color. When full grown 
the weight of these birds is 3 V 2 pounds 
and their length about 41 inches. 
The Plumage turns a brownish, glos- 
sy black, with green and purple reflec- 
tions, and the pouch a bright scarlet. Having 
a spread of wing equal to a swan’s, and a com- 
paratively small body, their buoyancy is re- 
markable, and their power of sustained flight 
and rapidity of movement are marvellous. 
With their great pinions extended, they can 
rise in a long sweep apparently without mov- 
ing a wing, They are called the man-of-war- 
bird and the hurricane-bird, as well as the 
frigate-bird. 
The specimen just taken was captured by 
George Dolet of New Bedford, and has been 
bought by W. J. Knowlton of this city. 
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