486 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. voh.56. 



These analyses were made for me, severally, by Mr. H. H. Bunting, 

 F. C. S., Oficina de Ensayes of the Peruvian Corporation (Ltd.), in 

 Callao, and by Seiior P. G. Urena, of the Estacion Experimental para 

 Cana de Azucar, near Lima (tlrrough the courtesy of Mr. Thomas F. 

 Sedge wick, director of the station). 



THE PELICANS. 



According to report, the pelicans are represented on the Peruvian 

 coast by two species, but the common one and the only one that I 

 observed was Pelecanus thagus Molina. It is one of the largest repre- 

 sentatives of the pelican family, its measurements being distinctly 

 greater than those of the American white pelican and much greater 

 than those of the common American brown pelican. Taczanowski 

 records Pelecanus Juscus Linnaeus as collected by Captain Markham 

 at Payta. I have a copy of Taczanowski's ''Ornithologie," formerly 

 in the possession of Doctor Nation of Lima, in which is a penciled 

 entry noting its occurrence at Lima. 



PELECANUS THAGUS MoUna. 



THE PELICAN OR "ALCATRAZ." 



The alcatraz is common on the entire Peruvian coast. I observed 

 it from Tumbes in the north to Mollendo in the south. During the 

 period of my stay on the coast it was present in much greater num- 

 bers in the northern region than in the south, but this was doubtless 

 attributable to temporary conditions which, as will appear later, 

 afforded the bird better protection for nesting on the larger islands 

 of the north.^ 



The description of the species as given by Molina, or by Taczanowski, 

 need not be repeated here. There are, however, a variety of color 

 phases to baffle the observer at first, as may in part appear from the 

 photographs. Some of the color phases of the young are men- 

 tioned later. The typical coloring during the period of incubation 

 (pis. 66 and 67 and pi. 68, fig. 2) comprises a white forehead and 

 neck stripe, dark brown neck and back, upper sides of wings more 

 or less variegated. The nuptial plumage, as I take it, preceding this 

 stage is characterized by yellow in place of the white on head and 

 neck. The older birds become more and more white, especially on 

 the head and wings. Some are found that have the back and belly 

 and neck gray, and the head all white (pi. 68, fig. 1) while birds that 

 I presumed to be the oldest, were almost entirely white on back and 



' I suspected that the pelicans of the southern portion of the coast of Peru had migrated to still more 

 southerly latitudes. Captain Jefferson of the Chilean ste^imsliip line said to me in 1907 that vast numbers 

 of pelicans were observed at islands along the coast of Chile in higher southern latitudes than he had been 

 accustomed to see them. 



