THE PELICAN. 291 



PELICANID^E. 



A comprehensive group of aquatic birds presenting a uniformity 

 of structure quite apparent in the skeleton, and especially in the 

 digestive organs, of which the Pelican is the type. They are 

 mostly birds of large size, but of slender, elongated body, long 

 neck, and head generally of moderate size. The bill is long, some- 

 times slender, at other times rather stout and straight ; the upper 

 mandible with the ridge separated by grooves, and terminated in 

 a narrow, decurved, and pointed nail, or claw ; the lower mandible 

 elastic and extensible. The plumage is soft and blending, on the 

 back and wings compact and imbricated ; wings long, tail of 

 moderate length and narrow. 



The habits of the group vary considerably. Cormorants pursue 

 their prey much in the same manner as Mergansers and Loons ; 

 the Anhingas are strictly terrinatorial ; the Pelicans combine the 

 habits of both. The Gannets fly about in quest of food, plunging 

 upon it from on high. The Frigate Birds range over the seas with 

 unrivalled power of flight, and the Tropic Birds resemble in pro- 

 gression the Terns. The family comprises 



1. Pelicans. 



2. Cormorants. 



3. Gannets. 



4. Phaetons. 



5. Anhingas. 



The Pelican (Fig. 105) has the bill long, straight, rather broad, 

 and very much depressed ; upper mandible flattened, terminating 

 in a hooked tip much bent and compressed; lower mandible formed 

 of two bony branches united at the point, from which a mem- 

 branous naked skin is suspended, forming a purse, which can be 

 distended into a voluminous bag. The Pelicans are large, heavy 

 aquatic birds, with great extent of wing, and are excellent swim- 

 mers ; their haunts are estuaries, the sea-coast, and the banks of 

 rivers, lakes, and marshes. In its habitat, whenever a fish betrays 

 its presence by leaping or flashing its glittering scales in the 

 sun, the Pelican will be seen sailing towards it. 



This bird has an appetite so insatiable, and a stomach so capacious, 



u2 



