274 RRPTfLES AND BIRDS. 



mud flats which mark the limits of the present delta of Phidaris. 

 Nowadays, however, a solitary individual may be seen fishing here 

 and there throughout the vicinity ; the remnant have betaken them- 

 selves to the islands which divide the Gulf of Procopanisto from that 

 of ^Etolico. Here, towards the end of February last, the community 

 constituted a group of seven nests a sad falling off from the year 

 1838, when thirty-four nests were grouped upon a neighbouring islet. 

 As we approached the spot in a boat the pelicans left their nests, 

 and taking to the water, sailed away like a fleet of stately ships, 

 leaving their nursery in possession of the invader. The boat grounded 

 in two or three feet of mud, and when the party had floundered 

 through this, the seven nests were found to be empty. A fisherman 

 had plundered them that morning, taking from each nest one egg, 

 which we afterwards recovered. The nests were constructed in a 

 great measure of old reed palings used by the natives for enclosing 

 fish, mixed with such pieces of the vegetation of the islet as were 

 suitable for the purpose. The seven nests were contiguous, and 

 disposed in the shape of an irregular cross, the navel of the cross, 

 which was the tallest nest, being about thirty inches high, the two 

 next in line being about two feet, and the two forming the arms 

 being a few inches lower, the two extremes at either end being about 



fourteen inches from the ground The eggs are chalky, like 



others of the Pelicanidae, very rough in texture, and some of them 

 streaked with blood." * 



THE WHITE PELICAN (P. minor). 



The White Pelican is as large as a Swan. Its bill is about fifteen 

 inches in length. Its plumage is white, with a slightly rosy tint, 

 which is brightest in the breeding season ; the primaries and spurious 

 wings are black ; the crest and a few feathers on the neck yellowish. 



This species received from the ancients the name of Onocrotalus, 

 now allotted to the previous species, because they fancied that they 

 discovered a resemblance in its cry to the braying of an ass. It is 

 very common on the lakes and rivers of Hungary and southern 

 Russia, as well as on the banks of the Danube. If it is seen in 

 France, it is purely accidental. A wild reeky shore, where it can 

 look down on the sea, is the favourite haunt of this Pelican ; but it is 

 not uncommon for it to perch on trees. The nest is formed of 

 coarse reedy grass, with a lining of finer quality; it is generally 



* "Ibis," vii., p. 395. 



