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FRIGATE

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Originally appearing in Volume V11, Page 231 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FRIGATE (Fr. fregate, Span. and See also:

Port. fragata; the See also:etymology of the word is obscure; it has been derived from the See also:Late See also:Lat. fabricata, and the use of the Fr. bdtiment, for a See also:vessel as well as a See also:building is compared; another See also:suggestion derives the word from the Gr. 64) paKros, unfenced or unguarded), originally a small See also:swift, undecked vessel, propelled by oars or sails, in use on the Mediterranean. The word is thus used of the large open boats, without guns, used for See also:war purposes by the Portuguese in the See also:East Indies during the 16th and 17th centuries. The See also:French first applied the See also:term to a particular type of See also:ships of war during the second See also:quarter of the 18th See also:century. The Seven Years' War (1956-1763) marked the definite See also:adoption of the " frigate " as a See also:standard class of vessel, coming next to ships of the See also:line, and used for cruising and scouting purposes. They were three-masted, fully rigged, fast vessels, with the See also:main armament carried on a single See also:deck, and additional guns on the See also:poop and forecastle. The number of guns varied from 24 to 5o, but between 30 and 40 guns was the usual amount carried. " Frigate" continued to be used as the name for this type of See also:ship, even after the introduction of See also:steam and of ironclad vessels, but the class is now represented by that known as " cruiser." FRIGATE-See also:BIRD, the name commonly given by See also:English sailors, on See also:account of the swiftness of its See also:flight, its See also:habit of cruising about near other See also:species and of daringly pursuing them, to a large See also:sea-bird'--the Fregata See also:aquila of most ornithologists—the Fregatte of French and the Rabihorcado of See also:Spanish mariners. It was placed by See also:Linnaeus in the genus Pelecanus, and its See also:assignment to the See also:family Pelecanidae had hardly ever been doubted till See also:Professor St See also:George See also:Mivart declared (Trans. Zool. See also:Soc.

X. p. 364) that, as regards the postcranial See also:

part of its axial See also:skeleton, he could not detect sufficiently See also:good characters to unite it with that family in the See also:group named by Professor J. F. Brandt Steganopodes. There seems to be no ground for disputing this decision so far as separating the genus Fregata from the Pelecanidae goes, but systematists will probably pause before they proceed to abolish the Steganopodes, and the result will most likely be that the frigate-birds will be considered to See also:form a distinct family (Fregatidae) in that group. In one very remark-able way the See also:osteology of Fregata differs from that of all other birds known. The furcula coalesces firmly at its symphysis with the carina of the sternum, and also with the coracoids at the upper extremity of each of its rami, the anterior end of each coracoid coalescing also with the proximal end of the scapula. Thus the only articulations in the whole sternal apparatus are where the coracoids meet the sternum, and the consequence is a bony framework which would be perfectly rigid did not the flexibility of the rami of the furcula permit a limited amount of See also:motion. That this mechanism is closely related to the See also:faculty which the bird possesses of soaring for a considerable See also:time in the See also:air with scarcely a perceptible See also:movement of the wings can hardly be doubted. Two species of Fregata are considered to exist, though they differ in little but See also:size and See also:geographical See also:distribution. The larger, F. aquila, has a wide range all See also:round the See also:world within the tropics and at times passes their limits. The smaller, F. See also:minor, appears to be confined to the eastern seas, from See also:Madagascar to the See also:Moluccas, and southward to See also:Australia, being particularly abundant in Torres Strait,—the other species, however, being found there as well.

Having a spread of wing equal to a See also:

swan's and a very small See also:body, the buoyancy of these birds is very See also:great. It is a beautiful sight to See also:watch one or more of them floating overhead against the deep See also:blue See also:sky, the See also:long forked tail alternately opening and shutting like a pair of See also:scissors, and the See also:head, which is of course kept to windward, inclined from See also:side to side, while the wings are to all See also:appearance fixedly extended, though the See also:breeze may be constantly varying in strength and direction. Equally See also:fine is the contrast afforded by these birds when engaged in fishing, or, as seems more often to happen, in robbing other birds, especially boobies, as they are fishing. Then the See also:speed of their flight is indeed seen to See also:advantage, as well as the marvel- " See also:Man-of-war-bird " is also .'.ometimes applied to it, and is perhaps the older name; but it is lest distinctive, some of the larger Albatrosses being so called, and, in books at least, has generally passed out of use.lous suddenness with which they can See also:change their rapid course as their victim tries to See also:escape from their attack. Before See also:gales frigate-birds are said often to See also:fly See also:low, and their appearance near or over See also:land, except at their breeding-time, is supposed to portend a See also:hurricane.2 Generally seen singly or in pairs, except when the prospect of See also:prey induces them to congregate, they breed in large companies, and O. Salvin has graphically described (See also:Ibis, 1864, p. 375) one of their settlements off the See also:coast of See also:British See also:Honduras, which he visited in May 1862. Here they See also:chose the highest See also:mangrove-trees3 on which to build their frail nests, and seemed to prefer the leeward side. The single See also:egg laid in each See also:nest has a See also:white and chalky See also:shell very like that of a See also:cormorant's. The nestlings are dothed in pure white down, and so thickly as to resemble puff-balls. When fledged, the See also:beak, head, See also:neck and belly are white, the legs and feet bluish-white, but the body is dark above. The adult See also:females retain the white beneath, but the adult See also:males lose it, and in both sexes at maturity the upper plumage is of a very dark See also:chocolate See also:brown, nearly See also:black, with a See also:bright metallic See also:gloss, while the feet in the females are See also:pink, and black in the males—the last also acquiring a bright See also:scarlet pouch, capable of inflation, and being perceptible when on the wing.

The habits of F. minor seem wholly to resemble those of F. aquila. According to J. M. Bechstein, an example of this last species was obtained at the mouth of the See also:

Weser in See also:January 1792. (A.

End of Article: FRIGATE

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