ANIMAL AVOCATIONS 
227 
professional thieves inasmuch as they live to a 
large extent upon the proceeds of their ill-gotten 
gains, and of these the great frigate-bird is the 
most notorious offender in such respect. 
Known also as the Son-of-the-sun, or the 
Man-of-war bird, it is found in the warm 
regions of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian 
Oceans, spending the greater part of its time 
in the air, and often journeying a great distance 
from land. 
Its food consists almost entirely of fish, which 
it obtains by forcing other sea-birds, such as 
terns and gulls, to disgorge as they fly home¬ 
wards from their fishing expeditions, the victims 
being so terrified by the attack of the robber 
that they eject a portion of their partly digested 
supper as a toll and means of escape. 
•The frigate-bird then promptly swoops down 
upon the falling spoil, and catches it in mid-air. 
The skuas, near allies to the gulls, are other 
birds that indulge in a practice similar to the 
foregoing, but they are also very partial to a 
diet of eggs, a liking that is also shared by the 
jay and the magpie. 
Then, again, the caracara hawk (Polyborus 
cheriway) of the Southern States of North 
America often helps itself to the fish captured 
by pelicans; the thief, although of diminutive 
proportions in comparison with the former, 
