The morning times., 1896-07-26

would be such a spsci Achievements a.
has usty teen dr~stncd ~. 30 FAR. evea
hy the widest enthusiasts. And yct u
- dccl-rg-l 10y sunIc " ho unr familiar wi IN
the rrigate tard, that such night II
qnsre n4than tts power.
The body OF The oirt is not Iapc1 iaEgrF
than a chickens. and yet when It's wings
are SPREAD for tight the tips are faiiy
sesrn feet apart Unfortunately for an
accurate uieasurrment OF is rate OF speed
when flying at Its best, a. il not a migra-
tory blrf. hut some enthusiasts among
tropical hird hgnters have declared the
belief that, with the wind. IL ought easily
to make $50 mites an hour, which wou ID
he flying twice rs fast as would be neces-
sary TO 20 from New York to Liverpool
In twenty-four hours. Others. not So en-
thusiastic. place the rate ut l15 miles an
hour. and others at only 100, but all say
that it is Incredibly fast"
Mr. r. NJ. Chapman, OF the Metropoli-
tan Museum of Natural History, in New
York. knows Il good deal about this strange
creature, which is sometimes called the
sea hawk, sometimes the man-of-war bird.
sometimes the frigate pelican. and by
ornitholOgsts tacbypetes aquilla.
Il have shot several specimens OF the
frigate bird said Mr.. Chapman to tile
writer, yesterday, land l have watched
them in their fight for hours. l wouldn't
like to hazard an estimate as TO their
speed, but their flying machinery is the
most wonderful I have ever seen. 1t
Is also peculiar. Each wing is about
three feet long and furnished with re-
niarkably strong feathers. Save when
they are exerting themselves, frigate birds
use that part of tie wing which CORE
spends TO mans upper arms simply as an
xx-hi IN f1anf
themselves solely with the pinions and NOV
ing that joint only Which corresponds to
the human elbow. When they wish to make
time, they extend their wings to the Ut
most, aud then they are a wonderful thing
To see. took an instantaneous photograph
OF lot Of them when was down among
the tropical birds last time. which shows
their method of flight most admirably.
They are exceedingly fond of floating
on tho high air layers. where they will
sometimes sail for hours without pereept-
ibly moving feather. and, wien thus
disposing of their time. they afford ex-
cellent examples of the working of the
aero-plane principle adopted by Maxim
aud other Investigators of the art OF fly
ing"
Mr.. Chapman, who was sitting in his
private office at the Museum at the time.
then brought out for private exhibition
handsome specimen OF frigatc bird
that had fallen a victim to his markham
ship. The specimen had teen preserved
by arsenic applications and was Il II ready
for mounting. In life it could not have
weighed more than six or seven pounds at
most-perhaps not more than nvc-and its
contours are the perfection Of grace; its
wings 4 matchiess combination OF strength
and ligltness. The tail is peculiar, Icing
long and forked, and admirably fitted to
serve as a rudder and Il balancing an
paratus. Whenever il floats its lead is
kept to windward, so as to utilize tie sus-
tanning force OF the air current, and tie
wings are motioless but the forkcd feathers
of the curious tail alternately opea and
close like pair OF scissors, while TIE
head is ipclIQed first to oee side and then
the other 1t was great puzzle to some
OF the earlier Daturalists like Humboldt and
Darwin, to determine how the frigate bird
mana ged to maintain its cbb in tie air at
all without motion, but the aero plane
theory. together with the now known fact
that 1t cannot float motionlcss in still air,
fully explains what puzzled those wise men,
The more enthusiastic estimates as to the
speed possibilities Of the frigafe bird
may seem extremely cxtravagaDt at first
blush, but they are based upon the fact that
the homiug pigeon. which weighs mole than
two-thirtis as much as the frtgate bird, but
hasa wing spread OF not more than twenty
four inches. has q record OF about ninety
miles an hoar.
the rdgatc bird said Mr.. Chapman,
sis true tropioopolitan-that is, it is
found In all tropical regions-but It Is al
% Sea bird and Il nearly always re-
mains near the Islands On which II itves.
That. no doubt, explains In large meas