NESTS AXD LOGS OF AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 



FAMILY— PELECANID.IS : PELICANS. 



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734. -Pelecancs conspicillatus, Tfiuiiunck. — ((jjl) 

 PELICAN. 



Figure. — Gould: Birds of Australia, ful., vol. vii., pi. 74. 



Reference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. x.\vi., p. 4S3. 



Previous Descriptions of Eggs. — (jould : Birds of Australia (1848), 

 also Handbook, vol. li., p. 4S7 (1S65) ; North : Austn. Mus. 

 Cat., p. 36S (1889) ; Le Souef ; Ibis, p. 423 (1S95). 



Geographical Distribution. — Whole of Australia and Tasmania; 

 also New Guinea. 



i\'««<. — Almost flat and about 18 incliLS across; roughly constructed 

 of dry herbage, &c., in some instances the nest is merel)' a sUght 

 hollow scraped in the ground ; placed in a small rookery on the highest 

 part of small islands at sea or in a lake. 



Eyys. — Clutch, two to three ; elliptical in shape ; textiu'e of shell 

 coarse ; suiiace glossy ; colour, white, with a thick coating (sometimes 

 smooth, in other instances rough) of lime. Dimensions in inches of 

 a proper clutch : (1) 3-7 x 2'33, (2) 3'65 x 2-35 ; of a smaller pair : 

 (1) 3-4 X 2-15, (2) 3-25 X 2-23. 



Observations. — The Pelican is an important bird. This large repre- 

 sentative of the genus, with its seemingly vmwieldy bill and pouch, needs 

 no description, save to say that it has been declared by competent 

 judges, by reason of its black and white dress, to be the most handsome 

 of the six or seven species of Pelicans found in the world. 



A company of these fine birds, flying high in a wedge-shaped phalanx, 

 is a fine sight. " A camp of fishennen on Lake Charm, Victoria, skin 

 and clean cat-fish before sending them to market. They do so at the 

 water's edge. Coming within twenty yards of them is a flock of about 

 400 Pelicans, waiting for the heads and offal. The fishermen carry 

 the offal in a basket about twenty yards along the shore, and throw it 

 out. Then the scramble commences, and the l>asketful disappears in 

 the twinkling of an eye. Pretty Marsh Terns hover overhead, and 

 when the big birds have eaten the large parts, they dart down for the 

 tit-bits. " Such is a Pelican pictm-c kindly sent me by Mr. G. H. 

 Morton, J. P., when these birds were gathered during the recent 

 droughty season (1897) not far from his home. 



Dimng the same season (October), Mr. .1. W. Mellor, of Adelaide, 

 witnessed a similar scene on Lake Albert. Captain Sturt, the explorer, 

 saw the channel of a river seventy or eighty yards broad crowded with. 



