PELECANIDJE— THE PELICANS. 195 



Family PELECANID-ffi.— The Pelicans. 



Cbabictebs. Bill grreatlj- elongated and excessively depressed, the terminal unguis 

 very Drominent and strongly hooked; gular pouch exceedingly largo and greatly distensi- 

 ble; lores and orbital region— some' imes other parts of the head also— naked. Toes fully 

 webbed, the outer almost as long H8 the middle, the inner much shorter. Tail very short, 

 nearly even, or slightly rounded. Size usually very largo. 



The Pelicans includf> about ten species, which are found mostly 

 in the wanner ])arts of the world, althouf^h two of them — the 

 common American P. erythrorhynchos and the Paliearctic P. cris- 

 pus— extend in summer to liigh northei'n latituilea. As may be 

 seen from the synonymy of the genus Pelecanus, these birds have 

 been divided into several genera by authors; but each species 

 possesses so many peculiarities of external structure that it is 

 doubtful whether the differences between the supposed genera are 

 of more than subgeneric importance. 



Genus PELECANUS Linnaeus. 



Pefecanuji Livn. 8. N. ed. \v. i.l7.';8.132: ed 12.1,1706.215. Type. P. onocrotalus LlNN. 

 Unocrolalus Baiss. Orn. vi, 176(1, 519. Type, I'elecanns onocrotahiK Linn. 

 Ctirtopelicanus llEiCH.Syst. A v. 185S. p. vii. Type, I'elfcauun erythrorhynchos QmeL. 

 Lei/topelicanus IlEica. 1. c. Type, Pelecanus fasciin Linn. 

 Caloptropelicanus Reicb. I. e. Type, Pelecanus oonspicillatus Temm. 



The characters of this genus being the same as those given 

 above for the Family Pelecanldfe, it is unnecessary to repeat them 

 here. It is possible, however, that the genus as here u.sed in a 

 comprehensive sense should be subdivided, as indicated by the 

 above synonymy. 



The species which occur in Illinois may be thus distinguished: 



A. Lower jaw densely feathered to the base of the maadiblo. Tall-feathers 24. (Subgenus 



Cv'ovhcnnnt.) 

 1. P. erythrorhvnohoi. Color white, the primaries tilacUi-h. Bill and feet yellowlf h, 

 deupunlnjc to red in the breedinic-aeason. VVios, 22.uu-20.25 iuohes: oulmen, U.30- 

 IS.K. 



