28 ELEMENTS OF ORNITHOLOGY. 
and South-eastern Europe. Other species of Pelicans are also 
found in North and South America, and there are about ten 
in all. Pelicans go in large troops, and though, like the Gannet, 
no divers, they will, like that bird, sometimes dash down verti- 
cally into the water from a great height in pursuit of the fish 
on which they feed, resting a very brief time on the surface 
of the water to swallow their prey, tossing up their bill and 
distending the pouch beneath it. 

The Common Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus). 
Returning from such exotic creatures as Pelicans and Darters 
to more familiar forms, when we think of Sea Birds, the Gulls 
of our coasts come naturally before the mind. The Common 
Gull (Larus canus) may serve as the type of a large group 
which is spread over the whole world, and consists of at least forty- 
eight kinds, all remarkably similar in form, general coloration, 
