PELICANS. 427 



which is caught ere it reaches the surface of the water. " The 

 Pelecanidc-E," says Mr. Swainson, "are a large, voracious, and 

 wandering tribe, hving for the most part on the ocean, and seldom 

 approach land but at the season of incubation. The bill is lono- 

 and armed at the end with an abrupt hook, the width of the gape 

 excessive, the face is generally bare of feathers, and the skin of 

 the throat is sometimes so extensible as to hang down like a bag: 

 by this curious organization the pelicans are enabled to swallow 

 fishes of very large size, and the whole family may be termed 

 oceanic vultures. Some, as the cormorants {Carbo), have the bill 

 shorter and the pouch much smaller; they are found in most 

 latitudes, and not only fly well, but swim and dive with great 

 swiftness. The provident Chinese avail themselves of these birds, 

 by training them to catch fish, a ring being put round their neck 

 to prevent the prey from being swallowed." 



In those genera that in their habits approach nearer to the 

 typical swimmers we find another modification of form. Thus 

 the cormorants, well known for their aquatic powers, have the 

 body long and flattened, and the wings, although equal to vigorous 

 flight, much shorter than in the section last mentioned. Their 

 legs also are placed near to the extremity of their body, and have 

 not the same freedom of action, in consequence of which they 

 are compelled both to sit and walk almost in a perpendicular 

 position. Such birds catch their prey underneath the water, being 

 endowed with a power of diving little short of that of the typical 

 Alcida2 ; yet, strange to say, notwithstanding the webs on their 

 feet, many of them perch with facility on trees; and in the gannets 

 the claw of the middle toe is serrated like that of the heron. 



To this family belong the Tropic Birds, the Darters, and the 

 Pelicans properly so called. 



Foot of Pehc/ 



