308 



KEY AyD DEl^CRIPTION 



American White Felioan 



Key to the Species 



* Tarsus over 3^ ; plumage maiulj- wiiite. . .1. American White Pelican. 



* Tarsus under 'i\ ; plumage with much brown 2. Brown Pelican. 



1. American White 

 Pelican (V2o. Pelecdr 

 II Ks erijthrorliynchos). 

 — An exceedingly 

 large, white, swim- 

 iniug bird, with a very 

 long, pouched bill 

 and black primaries. 

 The 1/0 ung is similar, 

 but with some brown- 

 ish-gray on the top 

 of the head. In the 

 breeding season, there 

 is a peculiar crest on 

 the bill. This spe- 

 cies procures its food mainly by swimming and dipping; the 

 next by darting from the air 

 into the water. This species is 

 found both along the coast and 

 in the center of the continent 

 a thousand miles from salt 

 water ; the next is almost ex- 

 clusively marine. 



Length, 60 ; wing, 22 (20-25) ; 

 tail, G; tarsus, 4J ; culmen, 11-15. 

 North America, rare or accidental on 

 the Atlantic coast, common on the 

 Pacific ; breeding from Minnesota 

 northward far into the British pos- 

 sessions, and wintering from the 

 Gulf coast to Central America. 



2. Brown Pelican (126. Pele- 

 cd,m(fi fnscKs). — This is a bird 

 similar to the last, but smaller. Brown Pelican 



