858 



'I'llE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. 



swans. Being |)i"ii\-i(le(l 



willi an L-xiensive system of air sacs, Ihey 



ritle hiyli anil get creilil fur all their indies. 



The Pelican li\es npim an exclnsi\e diet (if fish, and he uses his great 

 gnlar pouch as a diiJMiel, (jr scoop, rather than as a creel for transporta- 

 tion, as was fiirnierl)- supposed. lie prefers little lish to hig ones; and, 

 indeetl. the big fish rarely conie his way. fnr he does mH plunge from 

 midair, after the fashion of his brown cnusin, P. califoi'iiiciis. .\fter a suc- 

 cessful haul, the fisher bird raises his head, contracts the bellying net, or ]X)uch, 



ejects the 

 water, a n d 

 swallows the 

 catch. It 

 some times 

 happens that 

 the b i r d 

 m a k e s a 

 greater catch 

 than he can 

 handle, or, at 

 least, greater 

 than he has 

 time to swal- 

 li >\v during 

 the rush of 

 ;i successful 

 <lri\e. In this 

 case he re- 

 tires to shori; 

 with a full 

 liasket to ef- 

 fect a read- 

 justment or 

 to discard a 

 clearly prov- 

 en surplus. 



'i'he fish are carried in the crop and the young are fed during infancy by 

 regurgitation. .\s they advance in age, however, thev are allowed to thrust 

 their greedy beaks dnwn the parental gullet and help tliemselves to find- 

 ings — a m(3St shocking procedure. 



The ^^'']lite Pelican is naturally associated with the wilderness, not 

 because the bird has anything against civilization /^rr ,w. but liecause men 

 cannot abicle the ])resence oi ;ui\thing big. or strange, or showv. "Here 



Taken in Oregon. 



Photo by Finlt-y and Bolihnan. 

 WHITE ri;i.IC.\N, IMM.NTl'Ki; 



