Notes on Philippine Birds Collected by Governor W. Cameron Forbes

These belong, as of course was to be expected, to the decidedly small form of Australia, Java, Celebes, etc., the range of which must be extended to include the Philippines as well.

Measurements.

Sula dactylatra personata Gould

Five adults, both sexes, Tubbataba Reef, Sulu Sea, August, 1913.

The Blue-faced Booby, which breeds in the Tubbataba Reef in the Sulu Sea is indistinguishable, so far as I can see, from the Australian form.

The color of the bill and feet was not noted on the labels of Gov. Forbes's birds; in the dry specimens the bill is pale yellow and the feet are dull greenish black.

Measurements.

Fregata minor minor (Gmelin)

Six specimens, two adult males in full breeding plumage, three adult females and one immature male, from Cavilli and Bancoran Islands, Sulu Sea, March and September.

I follow Rothschild in restricting Gmelin's name minor to the bird of the eastern Indian Ocean, north Australia etc. (= F. minor listeri Mathews), and with little doubt refer to this form the Philippine Frigate.

The color of the bill in the three females is bright pink, not far from between France-pink and geranium-pink of Ridgway. The soft parts were described by Governor Forbes on the labels as – "Eyelid bright red: bill light pink, nail white, tip black; feet pale pink." The males all have dark bills, their soft parts were noted on the labels as – "Bill blue-black; feet dull brownish, with a slight reddish tinge."

An adult female of F. minor palmerstoni (Gmelin), shot by Flood, 29 September, 1895 at Molokai, H. I. (115,028 M. C. Z.) has a decidedly pinkish bill, the color of which was noted on the label as "light purple."

Gmelin mentions the red bill in his short diagnosis of minor and Edwards's plate to which he refers shows a female Frigate with a red bill.

I have dwelt at the above length upon the red bill of the female of both minor and palmerstoni because it is a character that I have seen but little mentioned, and because I feel morally certain that the American bird —Fregata magnificans Mathews according to Rothschild, F. minor rothschildi Mathews according to Mathews – does not show it. We have a very large series of Frigate birds from America, and among the females none show any trace of reddish or pinkish on the bills, nor do I find the bill of the female described as pink on any label, or for that matter in any text-book.