32 NOTES ON THE 



proximity to water, with little attempt at concealment. The 

 length of time after hatching before the young are taken to the 

 water I have not reliably ascertained. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



General plumage, pure white, (in breeding season with a 

 roseate tinge) ; crest and elongated feathers on the breast, pale 

 yellow; alula, primary coverts, and primaries, black, the shafts 

 of the latter, white for the greater part of their length, and 

 brownish-black at the end; outer secondaries, black, the inner 

 more or less white, the shafts of all white underneath. Bill, 

 yellow, with the edges and unguis, reddish; upper mandible 

 high at the base, but becoming gradually flattened to the end; 

 on the ridge just beyond the middle of the bill is a thin, 

 elevated bony process about one inch high, and extending 

 towards the end for three or four inches; lower mandible broad 

 at the base, with the crura separated nearly to the point, 

 underneath the lower mandible, beginning at the junction of 

 the crura and extending down the neck about eight inches, is a 

 large membranous sac, or pouch, capable of great expansion, 

 of the same color as the bill; bare space around the eye. bright 

 yellow; iris, white; legs and feet, yellow; claws, yellowish- 

 brown. The female ditfers only in the absence of the bony 

 projection on the upper mandible. 



Length. 70; wing, 24.50; bill, 18.50; tarsus, 4.75; tail, 7. 



Habitat, Temperate North America. 



Note. I have no record of the earliest instance of their 

 nesting, but generally it takes place in the latter days of May, 

 several having been reported by the twenty-fifth. Some have 

 been known to occur even after the first of June. The nests 

 are very rudimentary, consisting in most cases of the dirt and 

 debris found at the place selected, which is on alluvial lands 

 quite near the water. There seems to be no attempt at con- 

 cealment whatever usually, and they will endure a great deal 

 of disturbance from intruders before they will finally abandon 

 the spot chosen for incubation. From two to four while eggs 

 constitute the "clutch,"' and the male shares the duties of the 

 lengthy incubency, as it would seem to be the conjugal duty of 

 all male birds, yet unfortunately some come very far short of 

 it. I have often conceived that the female cow-bird laid her 

 first egg in another bird's nest because her mate refused to 

 share her sacrifices. Later facts, and many isolated circum 

 stances have somewhat modified my opinions as to their aban- 

 doning the State for incubation. 



Prof. Herrick, who is quite familiar with the bird life of Mur- 

 ray county, expresses himself as confident that they breed about 

 Lake Shetak, and later Mr. F. L Washburn, (now professor 

 at Corvallis, Oregon, I am informed), mentions some circum- 

 stances in his correspondence that Lake Traverse and many 

 other localities in the northwestern parts of the State have 

 been adopted as breeding places by the Pelicans. He states 



