476 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 
and out of place in captivity, yet holds its own well among other 
web-footed birds. When nesting, it seeks some secluded spot—an 
island far offshore, a headland jutting out into the waters—and there 
lays its eggs and hatches its brood. Thousands frequent the same 
nesting places, and their cries are loud and unceasing. The interest 
in this particular specimen is that she hatched her chicks in the 
flying cage at the park, and they ran about as unconcernedly and 
with no more timidity than the chickens in a barnyard. 
THE PELICANS. 
These curious birds are distinguished by a large appendage like a 
leather bag attached to the lower jaw, by means of which they catch 
the fish which form their only food. When they wish to feed their 
young, they bring the nestlings close to their breast and disgorge 
some partially digested fish into the pouch for the little ones to eat. 
An imperfect observation of this peculiar method led to the story, 
once current, that the mother bird wounded its own breast and allowed 
the blood to flow into the mouths of its young, who were nourished 
in this self-sacrificing manner. The illustration on plate 39 is from 
Gesner’s Historia Animalium, published in 1555. This old work, in 
four folio volumes, is a very erudite compilation of the knowledge of 
that time regarding animals. It will be noticed that the artist has 
not shown the pouch of the bird. This subject was a favorite one in 
heraldry during the Middle Ages, being used particularly in eccle- 
siastical institutions. 
There are at present four species in the park. The brown pelican 
from eastern Florida and the Gulf coast is found only near salt water. 
Thousands of them may be seen on Pelican Island, in Indian River. 
They go often long distances for their fishing, proceeding in a very 
regular manner in a diagonal singie file, the whole group beating the 
air in unison for a few strokes and then sailing until the leader com- 
mences to beat again. 
The illustration on plate 40 shows the American white pelican 
received from the Yellowstone Park, where there is a colony on an 
island in Yellowstone Lake, from which each year they migrate to 
the Gulf at the approach of winter. They are among the largest of 
our native water fowl, having a spread of wings of 8 or 9 feet. During 
the mating season each male bird has a curious protuberance on the 
upper part of its beak, which drops off as soon as the young are 
hatched. They have wonderful powers of flight and delight to per- 
form evolutions in the air and upon the water. Their plumage is of 
a glistening snowy white, and when standing erect, like the bird in 
the foreground of the group, they present a most noble and striking 
appearance. It is thought that this species once extended much 
farther north, even to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, migrating south- 
