The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1896-08-07

y
who are familiar with the frigate bird
that such fight is quite within its
power.
"The body of the bird Is not much
larger than a chickens, and yet when
its wings are spread for flight the tips
are fully seven feet apart. Unfortu-
nately we have no reliable data for
an accurate measurement OF its rate
of speed when flying at its best. IT
is not migratory bird, but some en-
thusiasts among tropical bird hunters
have declared the belief that, with the
wind, it ought easily to make $50 miles
an hour, which would be flying twice
as fast as would be necessary to go from
New York to Liverpool in "a hours.
Others not so enthusiastic place the
rate at IT'S miles an hour, and others at
only 100, but all say that it is incred-
IDLY fast"
Mr.. +. NJ. Chapman, of the Metropoli-
tan museum of natural history in New
York, knows a 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 ornitholigists "Tachy-
petes aquilla."
81 have shot several specimens of the
frigate bird" said Mr.. Chapman to the
writer, "and 1 have watched them In
their flight for hours. l wouldn't like
to hazard an estimate as to their speed,
but their flying machinery is the most
wonderful l have ever seen. 1t is also
peculiar. Each wing is about three
Rect long and furnished with remark
ably strong feathers. Save when they
hre exerting themselves, frigate birds
hse that part of the wing which CORE
sponds to mans upper arms simply
As an aero-plane on which to float, pro-
pelling themselves solely with the pin
IONS and moving that joint only which
corresponds to the human elbow. When
they wish to make time they extend
their wings to the utmost, and then
they are wonderful thing to see. l
took an instantaneous photograph of
q lot of them when was down among
the tropical birds last time, which
shows their method of fight most adj
mirably.
"They are exceedingly fond of float
ing OH the high air layers, where they
will sometimes sail for hours without
perceptibly moving feather, and when
thus disposing of their time they af-
ford excellent examples of the working
of the aero-plane principle adopted by
Maxim and other Investigators of the
art of flying"
Mr.. Chapman, who was sitting in his
private office at the museum at the
time, then brought out for private ex-
hibition A handsome specimen of a
frigate bird that had fallen a victim to
his craftsmanship. The specimen had
been preserved by arsenical applica-
tons and was all ready for mounting.
In life it could not have weighed more
than six or seven pounds at most-and
its contours were the perfection of
grace; it's wings a matchless combna-
ton of strength and lightness. The
tail is peculiar, being long and forked
and admirably fitted to serve as rud-
der and balancing apparatus. When
ever it floats its head is kept to wind
ward so as to utilize the sustaining
force of the air current, and the wings
are motionless, but the forked feathers
of the curious tail alternately open and
close like a pair of scissors, while the
head is inclined first to one side and
then the other. 1t was great puzzle to
some Of the earlier naturalists like
Humboldt and Darwin to determine
how the frigate bird managed to main
tain its ebb in the air at all without mo-
ton, but the aero-plane theory, togeth-
er with the now known fact that it can
not float motionless in still air, fully
explains what puzzled those wise men,.
The more enthusiastic estimates as to
the speed possibilities of the frigate
bird may seem extremely extravagant
at first blush, but they are based upon
the fact that the hosning pigeon, which
weighs more than two-thirds as much
as the frigate bird, but has wing
spread of not more than "a inches, has a
record Of about 90 miles an hour.
"The frigate bird" said Mr.. Chap
man is a true tropicopolitan-tha is it
man is true tropicopolitan-that is, it
also sea bird and it nearly always re-
mains near the islands on which 1t lives
That, no doubt, explains in large meas
ure, why so little is known of the habits