26 Goss on Pelecantis erythrorhyiichus. [January 



water with partially opened wings, and head drawn down and 

 back, the bill just clearing the water, ready to strike and gobble 

 up the prey within their reach ; when so fishing, if they ran into 

 a shoal of minnows, they would stretch out their necks, drop 

 their heads upon the water, and with open mouths and extended 

 pouches scoop up the tiny fry. Their favorite time for fishing 

 on the seashore is during the incoming tide, as with it come the 

 small fishes to feed upon the insects ca,ught in the rise, and 

 upon the low forms of life in the drift, as it washes shoreward, 

 the larger fishes following in their wake, each from the smallest 

 to the largest eagerly engaged in taking life in order to sustain 

 life. All sea birds know this and the time of its coming well, 

 and the White Pelicans that have been patiently waiting in line 

 along the beach, quietly move into the water, and glide smoothly 

 out, so as not to frighten the life beneath, and, at a suitable dis- 

 tance from the shore, form into line in accordance with the sinu- 

 osities of the beach, each facing shoreward and awaiting their 

 leader's signal to start. When this is given, all is commotion ; 

 the birds, rapidly striking the water with their wings, throwing it 

 high above them, and plunging their heads in and out, fairly 

 make the water foam, as they move in an almost unbroken line, 

 filling their pouches as they go. When satisfied with their 

 catch, they wade and waddle into line again upon the beach, 

 where they remain to rest, standing or sitting, as suits them best, 

 until they have leisurely swallowed the fishes in their nets ; 

 then, if undisturbed, they generally rise in a flock, and circle for 

 a long time high in air. 



Off' the south coast of Florida (a coral formation) the shoal 

 water often extends out for miles, and the tide is scarcely percep- 

 tible. There the birds have no occasion to drive, but gather their 

 food by coursing, and in such places the Brown Pelicans, so 

 expert in dropping upon their prey in deep water, are forced, in 

 order to save their necks unbroken, to feed in like manner; this 

 is especially noticeable in the shallow ponds in the Everglades. 

 Several years ago, in the month of September, I had the pleasure 

 of observing a small flock of the birds fishing in the Neosho 

 River, Kansas. When late at evening they were forced by tired 

 wings to stop in their southward flight, the place selected was in 

 still deep water, at the head of a fall, or rapids, in the stream, 

 where the water for some fifteen rods, and with a depth of about 



