254 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



sylvania, but mentions a sufficient number of instances 

 of its being seen or shot to warrant my inference that 

 at one time the pelican was not uncommon. 



Pelican. 



West of the Mississippi it is common. Dr. Coues 

 says, " It formerly bred in immense numbers about 

 Great Salt Lake, where it has decreased in abundance 

 of late." Ridgway found it breeding " in vast bands" 

 about Pyramid Lake in Nevada, the nest being merely 

 a heaping up of the earth to a height of a few inches. 



Nuttall, quoting Richardson (the author of " Fauna 



