PELICANS 75 



Their diet is exclusively fish which they obtain by diving 

 from their perches on spar buoys or while in the water. When 

 driven from their perches they almost invariably fly slightly 

 downward and then along quite near to the water, rising again 

 to perch on another buoy or rock. When going in flocks from 

 one locality to another they usually fly in a more or less one- 

 ranked line, tapering only slightly back from the leader, mak- 

 ing strong rather quick strokes of their wings. 



Family PELECANID^. Pelicans. 



Genus PELECANUS Linnaeus. 



Subgenus CRYPTOPELICANUS Reichenbach. 



125. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel. American White 



Pelican. 



Plumage in summer adults : occipital crest white or pale yellowish ; a 

 horny ridge on culmen ; primaries black ; otherwise white in plumage ; pouch 

 and bill reddish ; feet orange red. Plumage in winter adults : ridge on cul- 

 men and occipital crest wanting. Immature plumage ; lesser wing coverts 

 and top of head brownish gray ; bill, pouch, face and feet yellowish. Wing 

 20.00 to 25.00 ; culmen 13.50 ; tarsus 4.70. 



Geog. Dist. — Temperate North America, breeding from southern Minnesota, 

 Utah and Nevada northward to about 61° north latitude ; south in winter to 

 Mexico and Guatemala ; rare or casual in Maine. 



County Records. — Penobscot; one shot on Passadumkeag Stream near 

 Saponic Lake, May 28, 1892, by Peter Sibley and now in my collection, 

 (Hardy;. Washington ; one seen at Calais, it was afterward shot just over 

 the line in New Brunswick, (Boardman). York; during the heavy storm of 

 June 8, 1897, a pair of these birds lighted in a field near here (Eliot) and, 

 after staying in a small pond near by for half an hour, they left before any- 

 body could secure them, (H. R. Libby). 



This species only straggles to Maine, more usually in late 



spring. They nest in large colonies on islands in various lakes 



of the northern tier of western states and northward. The 



nest is composed of sticks and is placed on the ground. Two 



to four white, chalky covered eggs are laid. Two eggs from 



Pyramid Lake, Nevada, June 4, 1890, were laid in a mere 



depression in the sand. These eggs measure 3.32 x 2.20, 3.37 



