"Man-of-war bird" Quotes from Famous Books
... shot an albatross or man-of-war bird, so called from its manner of skimming through the air after other birds, which the seamen compare to sailing. It measured seven feet from pinion to pinion. On the fifth week of our separation from the fleet we made the Island of San Domingo, and on ... — A Sailor of King George • Frederick Hoffman
... equivalent is "frigate bird." It is "the Fregata aquila of most ornithologists, the Fregate of French and the Rabihorcado of Spanish mariners." Newton, Dictionary of Birds, art. "Frigate-Bird." Newton says that the name "man-of-war bird" has generally passed out of use ... — The Northmen, Columbus and Cabot, 985-1503 • Various
... on the cabin-house, watching the frigates, the tropics, gulls, boobys, and other sea-birds that sported through the sky in great numbers. The frigate-birds were called by the sailors the man-of-war bird, and also the sea-hawk. They are marvelous flyers, owing to the size of the pectoral muscles, which compared with those of other birds are extraordinarily large. They cannot rest on the water, but must sustain their flights ... — White Shadows in the South Seas • Frederick O'Brien |