PELECANUS ONOCROTALUS 159 



Sardinia. A specimea of it is also preserved in the Civic Museum of 

 Trieste, which is said to have been obtained in the Adriatic. 



Essentially a deep-sea bird, the Gannet, except during the breeding- 

 season, is chiefly to be seen on the wing at some distance from any 

 shore, or when in the vicinity of land, where high rocky cliffs rise 

 perpendicularly out of deep water. Its powers of flight are consider- 

 able, and it spends the greater part of the day on the wing, from time 

 to time darting down on its prey from a height, with closed wings, 

 often disappearing entirely under the surface of the water. It seems 

 never to take its prey by diving from the surface of the water, or to 

 pursue it by swimming under water. Surface-swimming fish form its 

 chief prey, but in captivity the bird will eat any kind of fish, and even 

 farinaceous food. The bird I kept alive in Palermo seemed to flourish 

 on a mixed diet of fish and " maccaroni." It was very voracious, and 

 when hungry, used greedily to swallow its food immediately it was 

 given to it, apparently unmindful of the presence of lookers-on. 

 Although not very shy, this bird never became what one could call 

 tame or docile, but seemed always to be apprehensive of danger, and 

 when approached, would utter a succession of harsh guttural notes, 

 as if resenting the intrusion. The sharp-edged bill of this species is 

 capable of inflicting a severe wound, as I know from experience. 



In the comparatively few localities in Great Britain and other 

 countries where it breeds, the Gannet may be found in colonies of 

 countless numbers, its nests, placed among cliffs, or on rocks, being 

 merely masses of sea-weed, while the single egg laid in each is pale 

 bluish-white, covered with a thick chalky coating, and measures about 

 80 X 50 mm. 



PELECANUS ONOCROTALUS, Linnaeus. 



EOSEATE PELICAN. 



Pelecanus onocrotalus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 215 (1766); Ogilvic-Grant, 

 Cat. Birds Brit. Mies, xxvi, p. 462; Lochc, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 160 

 (1867) ; Koenig, J. f. 0. 1888, p. 297 ; id. J. f. 0. 1893, p. 104. 



Description. — Adult male, from Europe. 



General colour white tinged with rose ; primaries and their coverts black ; 

 occipital feathers elongated and forming a pointed crest ; the feathers on the 

 lower neck also somewhat elongated and tinged with yellowish-buff. Tail 

 composed of twenty-four feathers. 



