86o THE CALTFORXFA P.RfnVX IT.T.TCAX. 



No. 346. 



CALIFORNIA BROWN PELICAN. 



A. ( ). U. No. 127. Pelecanus californicus Riilgw. 



Description. — .-Idiilts in breeding pluimuje: Bill mottled light and dark with 

 various tinting nf carmine; hare space ahout eye brownish; eyelids red; irides 

 white; pouch red ; feathers (if head and borders of pouch white; the rest of neck- 

 dark chestnut to blackish; upper])arts silvery gray, the feathers of back. rump, 

 lesser w'ing-coverts, etc., edged with dusky ; underparts brownish grav, stri])ed 

 with silvery white on sides, etc.; feet black. .Iditlt in :eintey: Similar but without 

 chestnut on neck, white instead, the top of liead an.d f(.)re-neck tinged with straw- 

 yellow. "]'onii(/: Head and neck light bmwuish gray, somewhat mottled with 

 ])aler tips to the feathers; back, wing-coverts, etc., dull brown, the feathers tipped 

 with ])ale fulvous ; lower parts white, tinged with brownish grav laterally and 

 l>osteriorly" (Ritlgway). Length of adult: 4J'^ feet (1371.6) or more; wing 

 21.00-23.50 ( 5,:?,V4-.^'/'-') I ; bill 12.00-15.00 ( 304.8-381 V 



Recognition Marks. — C.iant size; silvery gray and brown colnration with 

 immense bill distinctive. 



Nesting. — Does not lireed in Washington. .W-.v/.s-; in culonies on the ground, 

 or in Idw trees and bushes, nf sticks, weeds, and trash. B(/(/s: 3 or 4, chalky 

 white; elliptical ovate. .\v. size, 3.10.x i.(;5 (78.7x49.5). Season: March; one 

 brood. 



General Range. — Pacific Coast of .\merica from I'.urrard Inlet, south to the 

 (iala])agos; Ijreed^ upon the Coronado Islands and southward. 



Range in Washington. — Xot uncommon; sometimes abundant \'isitors u])on 

 the shores and harbors of the West Coast, in f.all onlv. 



Authorities. — Pelecanus fiisens Linn., Cooper and Siickle>', Rep. Pac. R. R. 

 Sur\-. \'ol. XII. pt. II. i8fio. ]). jWk T. L-. Rh. 



Specimens. — ( L. of W.) I'rov. 



COOPER records about all we know of this Pelican in Washington: 

 "About Septemljer i, the gray or "lirown' ](elican enters Shoalwater bay in 

 large Hocks which remain until Xoxeniber. They feed principally during 

 rising tide, wandering in long trains o\er the channels, and di\'ing occasionally 

 one after the other, sometimes scattering antl fishing singly. The\' rest, during 

 the inter\Tds. on ;i large sand island in the mouth of the bay. 1 have never 

 seen llieni in iheir s])ring migrations noi'lhw;ird." 



R. H. Lawrence adds: "Two mounted birds seen at South Bend, — one 

 shot in Nox'eniber on \\'illa])a Harbor where the\- are jirett)- coninion in fall. 

 I'hev are not uncommon here on Gray's Harbor." 



It seems jirobahle thai the California Pelicans wander north irregularly 

 .•liter the breeding season, which is ])assed on the Coionado Islands and south- 



