274 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
mud flats which mark the limits of the present delta of Phidaris. 
Nowadays, however, a solitary individual may be seen fishing here 
and there throughout the vicinity ; the remnant have betaken them- 
selves to the islands which divide the Gulf of Procopanisto from that 
of AXtolico. Here, towards the end of February last, the community 
constituted a group of seven nests—a sad falling off from the year 
1838, when thirty-four nests were grouped upon a neighbouring islet. 
As we approached the spot in a boat the pelicans left their nests, 
and taking to the water, sailed away like a fleet of stately ships, 
leaving their nursery in possession of the invader. The boat grounded 
in two or three feet of mud, and when the party had floundered 
through this, the seven nests were found to be empty. A fisherman 
had plundered them that morning, taking from each nest one egg, 
whith we afterwards recovered. The nests were constructed in a 
great measure of old reed palings.used by the natives for enclosing 
fish, mixed with such pieces of the vegetation of the islet as were 
suitable for the purpose. The seven nests were contiguous, and 
disposed in the shape of an irregular cross, the navel of the cross, 
which was the tallest nest, being about thirty inches high, the two 
next in line being about two feet, and the two forming the arms 
being a few inches lower, the two extremes at either end being about 
fourteen inches from the ground..... The eggs are chalky, like 
others of the Pelicanidee, very rough in texture, and some of them 
streaked with blood.” * 
THE WHITE PELICAN (P. minor). 
The White Pelican is as large as a Swan. Its bill is about fifteen 
inches in length. Its plumage is white, with a slightly rosy tint, 
which is brightest in the breeding season ; the primaries and spurious 
wings are black ; the crest and a few feathers on the neck yellowish. 
This species received from the ancients the name of Oxocrotalus, 
now allotted to the previous species, because they fancied that they 
discovered a resemblance in its cry to the braying of an ass. It is 
very common on the lakes and rivers of Hungary and southern 
Russia, as. well as on the banks of the Danube. If it is seen in 
France, it is purely accidental. A wild rocuy shore, where it can 
look down on the sea, is the favourite haunt of this Pelican; but it is 
not uncommon for it to perch on trees. The nest is formed of 
coarse reedy grass, with a lining of finer quality; it is generally 
* *t Lbigg” wits: pe gis, 
