NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. ]61 



America generally, and breeds nearly throughout its entire range. Anyone 

 can recognize the male of this species by its striking black and white colors 

 and its magnificent, erect, compressed semi-circular black and white crest. 

 The general color of the head, neck, sides and upper portions of the 

 female are grayish-brown ; white beneath, and the crest is not so promi- 

 nent. The nest is built in the hollow of a tree or stump, made of grass 

 and weeds, lined with feathers and down. W. S. C, in the "Young 

 Oologist," July, 1S84, writing from Peoria, Illinois, says: "I found a 

 nest on April 20th. 1881, in the hollow of a willow tree, about fifteen feet 

 from the ground. In the nest, or rather hole, for there seemed to be no 

 nest other than rotten wood, were twelve eggs, these hidden under a 

 covering of down from the breast of the bird." 



Hab. North America generally, south to Mexico and Cuba. 



639. Frigate Pelican — tachypetes aquila. The Man-o'-War Bird or 

 Frigate Pelican is a maritime bird, inhabiting tropical and subtropical coasts 

 of the globe. In North America it inhabits the South Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts. A constant resident on the coast of Florida and on the Bahamas. 

 Its majestic flight and aerial evolutions, often at immense elevations, causes 

 even the most casual observer to gaze on it with admiration. It may be 

 recognized by its immense wings, deeply forked tail and general dark 

 colors of brownish-black glossed with green. It has a small gular sac 

 which is capable of considerable distension. A fine mounted specimen of 

 this noted bird, which was killed in the spring of 1880 by Emmet Adcock, 

 in Fairfield county, Ohio, is now in the office of Dr. S. Renshaw, of 

 Sugar Grove, Ohio. The nest of the Frigate is a huge, shallow, flat 

 structure of sticks, placed on low bushes by the water's edge. Mr. May- 

 nard says that thousands gather to breed in one rookery, and that in 

 Florida they breed late, about the first of June. The eggs are two or 

 three in number; greenish- white, thick and smooth-shelled. 



Hab. Tropical and subtropical coasts generally ; in America, north to Florida, Te.\as and California, and 

 casually on the Atlantic coast to Nova Scotia. 



640. American White Pelican — pelecanus erythrorhynchus. White, 

 covered with a calcareous deposit; one or two in number, and I have had 

 positively identified sets of three eggs; size from 3.15 to 3.30 long by 

 2. 20 to 2.35 broad. This fine white bird, of very large size and robust form, 

 ranges irregularly over temperate North America at large, being rare or 

 accidental in the Northeastern States. Along the South Atlantic and 

 Gulf States it is common. West of the Mississippi it is generally abun- 

 dant, and breeds from Utah northward. It is common along the coast of 

 California and Western Mexico. The bird breeds usually in colonies, 



