958 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — STEGANOPODES. 



coverts, alula, and mauy secondaries ; shafts of quills white. Lengthened feathers of occiput 

 and breast, and some of the lesser wing-coverts, pale straw-yellow. Tail-feathers said to be 

 rosy at times ; a dark spot on occiput after the breeding season, when the crest and the ridge 

 of tlie bill have been slied. Iris pearly white, brown or dusky at times or in young. Bill 

 and feet ordinarily yellow, much reddened in breeding season, when the general tone of bill 

 is reddish-salmon ; under mandible brighter than upper, which has the ridge whitish ; pouch 

 passing from livid whitish anteriorly through yellow and orange to red at base ; bare skin 

 about eye orange ; eyelids red ; feet intense orange-red. Length 5 feet ; extent 8-9 feet ; 

 wing 2 feet or more ; bill a foot or more; ft)re arm about 15 inches ; tail 6.00, 24-feathered ; 

 tibia bare 1.00; tarsus 4.50; middle toe about 5.00. The size varies much, some individuals 

 being over and others under the usual dimensions here given. The average weight may be 

 about 17 pounds. Young birds differ from adults mainly in having lesser wing-coverts and 

 some feathers on head marked with gray ; bill and feet pale yellowish. This magnificent bird 

 ranges over temperate North America at large, but irregularly; rare on Atlantic coast, casual, 

 or wanting in Middle and Eastern States and beyond ; Florida and Gulf coasts, common in 

 winter when also S. to Guatemala ; in the West abundant in suitable places, inland as well as 

 coastwise, up to 61° N. at least. Breeds in colonies, sometimes of vast extent; nest on ground 

 or rocks, simple, of sticks, weeds, etc. ; egg single or multiple, long, oval, or somewhat ellip- 

 tical, chalky white, but usually found stained or soiled, 3.30 X 2.20. (P. trachyrhynchiis of 

 former eds. of Key. P. erythrorhynclios, A. 0. U. Lists, No. 125.) 



{Subgenus Leptopelecanus.) 



P. fus'cus. (Lat. /mscms, brown. Figs. 070, 671.) American Brow^n Pelican. Adult 

 (J 9 in breeding plumage : Bill mottled with light and dark colors, much tinged in places 



with carmine ; eyes white ; bare 

 i^pace around them blue ; eyelids 

 red ; pouch blackish ; feet black. 

 Plumage dark and much varie- 

 gated. Head mostly white, 

 tinged with yellow on top, the 

 white extending down neck as 

 a bordering of pouch and some- 

 what beyond ; rest of neck dark 

 chestnut. Upper parts dusky, 

 each feather pale or whitish - 

 centred, the paler gray color 

 prevailing on wing-coverts. 

 Primaries blackish, their shafts 

 basally white ; secondaries dark, pale-edged; tail-feathers gray. Lower parts grayish-brown, 

 striped with white on sides ; lower fore-neck varied with yellow, chestnut, and blackish. $ 9 , 

 in winter: Most of the neck white. Length about 4.50 feet; extent 6.50 feet; wing 18.50- 

 21.00 inches; bill a foot or less ; gular pouch extending about the same distance along neck. 

 Tail 7.00, 22-feathered ; tarsus 2.50 : middle toe and claw 4.50. Bill and soft parts variable 

 in color with age or other circumstance, but pouch ne.ver reddish. Young lack special colora- 

 tion of neck, which is simply brownish ; at first, covered with whitish down. Feathers of 

 neck of adult peculiarly soft and downy ; a slight nuchal crest, with stiff bristly feathers on 

 forehead, and lengthened acute feathers on lower fore-neck and breast. The Brown Pelican is 

 exclusively maritime, inhabiting the Atlantic coast of America from tropical regions to North 

 Carolina, and only casually occurring inland, as in Wyoming. It plunges for its prey like a 

 Gannet, not scooping it up swimming like the White Pelican. Breeds in colonies, indiffer- 



FiG. ("0. — Brown Pelican Nestin 



