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PELECANINiE. 



PELICANS AND ALLIED SPECIES. 



There is not a more intelligibly instructive family of birds 

 than that of the Pelecaninae. Placed on the confines of the 

 two conterminous orders of the Urinatores and Mersatores, 

 they exhibit in the genus Phalacrocorax, and especially in 

 Plotus, a perfect conformity with the former, and in Sula an 

 alliance to the latter, so perfected in Phaeton that it would 

 seem doubtful to which of the two orders that genus ought 

 to be referred. With all this, there pervades the whole 

 group a uniformity of structure, evident in the skeleton, and 

 especially in the digestive organs, which no unprejudiced 

 examiner could mistake, however much it runs into modifi- 

 cations suitable to the differences of habits which the species 

 present. But as it might be unsuitable here to offer a view 

 of the gradations alluded to, we having too few species to 

 illustrate them, I shall briefly give the more obvious cha- 

 racters of the Pelecaninae. 



They are .birds mostly of large size, having the body 

 elongated and rather slender ', the neck long ; the head vari- 

 ous in size and form, generally moderate. The bill longer 

 than the head, rather slender or stout, straight ; the upper 

 mandible with the ridge separated from the sides by grooves, 

 and terminated by a narrow, generally deciu'ved, pointed 

 unguis ; the lower mandible with the crura elastic, extensile, 

 and not united until near the tip. There is generally a bare 

 space around and before the eye, extending to the bill, and 

 the skin of the throat is bare, in some species forming a large 

 pouch. 



The tongue is extremely diminutive; the oesophagus 

 excessively wide ; the belt of proventricular glandules gene- 



