Pelecanus aquilus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 133.
Fregata aquila Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1898), 26, 543;
Sharpe, Hand-List (1899), 1, 237; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902),
2, 212; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 40.
Sa-la-gun-ting', Manila; lang-y-san', Cagayancillo.
Cagayancillo (McGregor). Tropical and subtropical oceans of
both hemispheres.
"Adult male.--General color black, becoming sooty below; feathers of
head, upper back, and scapulars elongate and pointed; head with slight
oil-green gloss; scapulars strongly glossed with bronze-green, this
color changing to purple when specimen is held away from the light;
a trace of green and purple gloss on breast and sides. Iris brown;
bill black except the tip which is horn-gray; gular pouch dark crimson;
feet blackish brown, flesh-colored below; webs bluish below; nails
brown. Extent of wings, 1,830; length of bird, 914; wing, 600; tail,
410; depth of fork, 240; culmen from base, 105; tarsus, 20. Grant
gives the following measurements: Length, about 1,016; culmen, from
feathers on forehead, 91 to 112; wing, 521 to 655; tail, 355 to 376;
tarsus, 18."
"Adult female.--Feathers of head less elongate than in the male and
with little or no gloss; upper back and scapulars slightly elongate
and almost devoid of metallic gloss; back of head dark brown;
fore neck, chest, breast, and sides of belly pure white; lesser and
median wing-coverts brown, with paler margins and dark middles; rest
of plumage like that of adult male. Iris dark brown; bill bluish
horn-color; orbits and gular skin dark plumbeous, with a tinge of
violet; feet carmine. Length, 582 to 678; tail, 373 to 483; tarsus, 25.
"Male and female immature.--Head, neck, upper part of chest, and
middle of lower breast and belly, white; sides and upper breast dark
sooty brown; rest of plumage like adult female. Iris dull dark blue;
naked skin on throat lavender, bill horn-color, darker at base;
feet pale pinkish blue." (Grant.)
"The eggs of the great frigate bird measure from 59 to 72 mm. in
length and from 42 to 51 in breadth." (Oates.) The eggs are white
and covered with more or less chalk-like substance.
The frigate pelicans are preëminently soaring birds of wonderful
power. In these Islands they are rarely seen, and far more rarely
killed, as they usually fly at great heights. During the nesting season
they are fearless and may be observed near at hand. The larger species,
at least, may nest on some of the more remote and rocky islands of
this Archipelago.