THE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. 857 



No. 345. 



AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. 



A. O. U. Xo. 125. Pelecanus erythrorh^nchus Gmel. 



Synonym. — Rijl'gh-billed Pei.icax. 



Description. — Adult in brecdiinj plumage: General plumage white; the 

 primaries blackish touched with hoary gray near tips; secondaries blackish with 

 white basally ; a pendant occipital crest of white or pale yellow ; lanceolate feathers 

 of lesser wing-coverts and chest pale }-ellow or buft: a thin, elevated, horny pro- 

 tuberance on ridge of culmen a little forward of the middle ; bill and pouch red- 

 dish ; legs and feet bright orange-red. .-IduU in iciutrr: Sinular but without 

 hornv protid^erance on hill; the occipital crest wanting: vellow coloring of chest 

 and wing-coverts pale; bill and feet not so bright. 1 iiiniatnrc: Like adult in 

 winter, but feathers of crown and lesser wing-coverts mixed with brownish 

 gray; chest feathers not modified; a fluffy, short, occipital crest; the bill, pouch, 

 legs, and feet pale yellowish. "Length 4j4 to nearly 6 feet ; extent Sy, to nearly 

 10 feet; weight about 17 pounds" (Ridgway). \Ving 22.00 ("538.0); tai! 6.00 

 I 152.4 I ; liill 10.50-15.00 ( 266.7-381') ; tarsus 4.50 ( 114. 3 ). 



Recognition Marks. — Immense size, with large bill and gular pouch; white 

 plumage. 



Nesting. — Xcst: on the ground, a mrmnd of gravel and rubbish with a slight 

 depression on top, on beach or island of large lake. E</(/s: 2-4. bluish white or 

 pale huffy, often more or less stained, and with chalkv deposit on surface. .-\v. 

 size. 3.40 X 2.25 (86.4x57.2). Scasdii: June. 



General Range. — "Temperate North .America, north in the interior to aliout 

 latitude 61°. south in winter to western Mexico and Guatemala; now rare or ac- 

 cidental in the northeastern states; abundant in the interior and along the Gulf 

 Coast; common on the coast of California" (A. (). I".). 



Range in Washington. — Not common, and possibly non-ljrceding summer 

 resident mi the East-side; casual during migrations on Puget Sound. 



Authorities. — [Cooper and Suckle^-, p. 2(''5. Not a valid Washington record.] 

 Rhoads, [^roc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1893, p. 31. T. D'. B. E. 



Specimens. — fU. of W. ) Prov. 



IT need not he supjjosed that these ponderous fowls, the largest of 

 water birds by ax'oirdupois, are to he set down as awkward simph' because 

 the\- have big bills. \'iewed at a distance, as the\- rest on shore or near 

 some low mud island, their statelv ranks present an im]M'essi\'e spectacle. 

 In flight they are calm. ahiKist majestic; and their white plumage, set off 

 by l:)lack wing-tips, makes a fine showing in the niurning sun. Tlie\' sit 

 the water almost as gracefully as swans and "ti])" in a dignified way, 

 immersing the entire head and neck — again much after the fashion of 



