146 BIRDS. 



SHELDRAKE. Black and white; sides chestnut in ; $ 

 duller and grayish; crest high and compressed; nostrils 

 sub-basal; L. 19; W. 8. N. Am., common. 



OEDEE Q.-STEGANOPODES. 



(TTie Totipalmate Birds.) 



Feet totipalmate; hind toe lengthened, scarcely ele- 

 vated, united by a web to the other toes; tibiae feathered 

 Bill various, horny, never lamellate, cutting edges often 

 serrate; nostrils very small or abortive; a prominent, 

 naked, gular pouch; tarsus reticulate; altricial. 



We here omit the families Sulidae, (Gannets) and 

 TachypetidcB (Frigate Birds) as they are exclusively 

 marine. One species of the Southern family Plotidce, 

 (the Darters) Plotus anhinga, L., the Snake Bird or 

 Water Turkey of the Southern swamps, sometimes comes 

 up the Miss. R. to S. Ills. 



FAMILY LXL PELECANID^. 



(The Pelicans) 



Large fish -eating birds, with very long bills which 

 end in a claw -like hook; the broad space between the 

 branches of the lower jaw occupied by a huge membran- 

 ous sack; nostrils abortive; wings very long; tail very 

 short; gregarious; sexes alike. Genus one; species six; 

 found in most warm regions. 



/. PELECANUS, Linnaeus. PELICANS. 



1. P. trachyrhynchus, Lath. WHITE PELICAN. Chiefly 

 white, some black and yellowish; L. 60; W. 24; B. 12. 

 N. Am., abundant S. and W., often inland. 



