THE BROWX PRUCAN. 275 



made on the ground, and is about eighteen inches in diameter, in 

 which it lays four, sometimes five, white eggs, but more frequently 

 two, slightly oblong, and alike at both ends. Fish forms its principal 

 food, which it captures chiefly in shallow inlets, as it is an indifferent 

 diver. Occasionally its flight is lofty, but generally close to the 

 surface of the water. 



THE BROWN PELICAN (P.fuscus). 



The Brown Pelican is an American species, smaller than the pre- 

 ceding, and is described at some length by Nuttall. It has the head 

 and the neck variegated with white and ash-colour ; all the rest of the 

 plumage of a brownish grey, with whitish marks on the back ; the 

 pouch is of an ashy blue, striped with a reddish hue. It is found in 

 the Larger Antilles, on the coasts of Peru, Florida, and South Carolina. 



Although ponderous and heavy-looking on the wing, this species 

 is capable of performing flights of immense distance, and to- a 

 certain extent may be considered migratory. In winter they are 

 seldom seen beyond the edge of the tropics, but in summer they are 

 frequently found as far north as the thirty-sixth degree of latitude. 

 Extremely wary and difficult of approach, they are seldom shot, 

 although persistently pursued by fishermen, on account of the 

 immense damage they do to the spawn and young of fish. They 

 are also possessed of the greatest powers of vitality, and resist death 

 when pierced with wounds so serious that it would inevitably kill any 

 other species. From this circumstance doubtless they receive the 

 name of Die-hards from the residents that dwell on the margin of the 

 Gulf of Mexico. When disabled from taking flight, their courage in 

 defending themselves from an assailant is as remarkable as that of 

 the Bittern ; but being possessed of superior size and strength to the 

 latter bird, the Brown Pelican can successfully resist the strongest 

 dog. Like the other species of this genus they live in small com- 

 munities of twenty or thirty members, and build their .nests upon 

 the ground closely adjoining each other, and the utmost good fellow- 

 ship, almost affection for each other, exists between the members of 

 the diminutive coteries. The young birds remain with their parents 

 till the spring following their birth, the old ones driving them off to 

 seek new domiciles, when the advance of the season tells them that 

 they must provide a home for a coming family. As in many other 

 races, the plumage of the young is much darker and less handsomely 

 marked than in the adults. From frequent persecution, the Brown 

 Pelican has of late years much diminished in numbers. 



