Cassell's book of birds; vol. 4

by Alfred Edmund Brehm

"The old bird," says Macgillivray, "at first feeds its young with a kind of fish-soup, prepared in its own gullet and stomach, and which it introduces, drop by drop as it were, into its throat; but when its nursling is pretty well grown, it places its bill within its mouth and disgorges the fish, either whole or in fragments. It never carries fish to the rock in its bill. Upon the Cornish coast these birds are most abundant in autumn and winter."

"The fishermen," says Mr. Couch, "learn by their actions when shoals of pilchards are present, and what course they are pursuing. The Gannet takes its prey in a different manner from any other of our aquatic birds; for, traversing the air in all directions, as soon as it discovers the fish, it rises to such a height as experience shows best calculated to carry it by a downward motion to the required depth, and then, partially closing its wings, it falls perpendicularly on the prey, and rarely without success, the time between the plunge and immersion being about fifteen seconds."

THE FRIGATE BIRD.

The FRIGATE BIRD (Tachypetes aquila) has deservedly been called the "Eagle of the Sea." The most conspicuous feature whereby it may be distinguished among all allied species, is the enormous development of its wings. Its body is slim, the neck powerful, and the head of moderate size; the beak is half as long again as the head, somewhat depressed at its base, vaulted above, and strongly hooked at the tip; the apex of the under mandible is bent downwards in a corresponding manner; the space beneath the lower mandible is large, broad, and denuded of feathers; the gape extends backwards to beneath the eyes; the tarsus is very short, powerful, and covered with feathers as far as the feet; the web between the toes is extremely narrow, looking as if a portion of it had been cut away; the toes are furnished with strong, sharp, curved claws, that on the inner side being toothed; the wing is of inordinate length, and sharply pointed at the tip, the first quill being the longest; the tail consists of twelve feathers, and is very long and deeply forked; the general plumage is compact, smooth, and glossy; upon the head, neck, and breast the feathers are elongated, upon the mantle round, and upon the breast fur-like; the throat and a space around the eyes are naked. The colour of the plumage of the adult male is brownish black, shimmering with metallic green and purple on the head, nape, back, and sides; upon the wings it is shaded with grey; and upon the secondary quills and tail with brown; the eye is deep or greyish brown, the naked space around the eye purple-blue, the beak light blue at the root, white in the middle, and dark horn-colour at the point; the sac beneath the throat is orange-yellow. The length of the Frigate Bird is forty-one inches, the spread of the wings twenty-five inches, length of tail eighteen inches. The weight of the entire bird is only a little more than three pounds. The female is distinguishable by her lighter tint and duller colours, and by her breast being more or less covered with white feathers.

The Frigate Bird is to be found in the same latitude as the "Sons of the Sun," braving with[Pg 225] them the fervour of inter-tropical heat, but it seldom wanders so far from land as they. It has indeed been reported to have been seen at a distance of from six hundred to seven hundred miles from the nearest coast, but generally speaking, it seldom flies to more than from twenty to fifty miles from the shore, to which it usually resorts in stormy weather. At the earliest dawn of morning it leaves its sleeping-place, and may soon afterwards be observed making broad circles in the air, or flying rapidly against the wind towards the sea in search of food. After catching fishes until satisfied, it returns to the dry land, which it reaches, should the weather be stormy, about noon, but if fine, not until later in the day. Mr. Gosse, wishing to know at what time this species retired to their resting-places, visited one of these, arriving there just at sunset, but found to his mortification that he was too late; already the Frigate Birds, Gannets, and Pelicans that resorted to the spot, had retired to roost. At his approach, however, the whole assembly rose as it were in a mass from the trees where they had been reposing, the Frigate Birds instantly flying far out to sea, or sailing in beautiful circles high in the air, neither did they return until darkness had completely set in. A few days later, the same observer visited the place at an earlier hour, arriving about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, but even then he found that the greater number of them had got home, and were quietly digesting the result of their day's employment.

THE FRIGATE BIRD (Tachypetes aquila). ONE-FIFTH NATURAL SIZE.

This bird, according to Bennett, being incapable of swimming and diving, may generally be seen on the alert for flying-fish, when these are started into the air by Albicores and Bonitas, and when[Pg 226] unsuccessful it is compelled to resort to a system of plundering other sea-birds. The quiet and industrious tribes, the Gannets and Sea Swallows (Sterna hirundo, Linn.), are generally selected as objects of attack, and on returning to their haunts to feed their young brood, after having been out fishing all day, are stopped in mid-air by the marauding Frigate Bird, and compelled to deliver up some of their prey, which, being disgorged by them, is most dexterously caught by the plunderer before it reaches the water. A Frigate Bird has been observed to soar over the mast-head of a ship, and tear away the pieces of coloured cloth appended to the vane.

"About the middle of May," says Audubon, "a period which to me appeared very late for birds found in so warm a climate as the Florida Keys, the Frigate Pelicans assemble in flocks of from fifty to five hundred pairs or more. They are seen flying at a great height over the islands on which they have bred many previous seasons, courting for hours together, after which they return towards the mangroves, alight on them, and at once begin to repair the old nests or construct new ones. They pillage each other's nests of their materials, and make excursions for more to the nearest Keys. They break the dry twigs of a tree with ease, passing swiftly on wing and snapping them off by a single grasp of their powerful bill. It is indeed a beautiful sight to see them when thus occupied, especially when several are so engaged, passing and repassing with the swiftness of thought over the trees whose tops are blasted; their purpose appears accomplished as if by magic. 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 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 tails are seen extending beyond the nest for more than a foot. The eggs are two or three—more frequently the latter—in 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 with 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 the wing."

"The Frigate Pelican," continues the same authority, "is possessed of a power of flight which I imagine superior perhaps to that of any other bird. However swiftly the Cayenne Tern, the smaller Gulls, or the Jager move on wing, it seems a matter of mere sport to it to overtake any of them. The Goshawk, the Peregrine, and the Gyr Falcon, which I conceive to be the swiftest of our Hawks, are obliged to pursue their victim, should it be a Green-winged Teal, or Passenger Pigeon, at times for half a mile at the highest pitch of their speed before they can secure it. The bird of which I speak comes from on high with the velocity of a meteor, and on nearing the object of its pursuit, which its keen eye has spied out while fishing at a distance, darts on either side to cut off all retreat, and with open bill forces it to drop or disgorge the fish which it has just caught. Upon one occasion I observed a Frigate Bird that had forced a Cayenne Tern, yet in sight, to drop a fish, which the broad-winged warrior had seized as it fell; this fish was rather large for the Tern, and might probably be about eight inches in length; the Frigate Bird mounted with it across his bill about a hundred yards, and then, tossing it up, caught it as it fell, but not in the proper manner; he therefore dropped it, but before it had fallen many yards caught it again. Still it was not in a good position, the weight of the head, it seemed, having prevented the bird from seizing it by that part. A second time the fish was thrown upward, and now at last was received in a convenient manner, that is, with its head downwards, and swallowed. These birds are gregarious, and utter a rough croaking cry."